


Blood, Glory, and Revenge

by Haedonrocks



Series: Mystery Skulls Series [1]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: F/M, I changed the age for Vivi and Arthur, Lewis had a deadbeat helper, Lewis is going to get his revenge, ghost freaking out and hellbent all mashed up in the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 38,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24196519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haedonrocks/pseuds/Haedonrocks
Summary: When Lewis remembers his death, he sets his revenge for Arthur. Meanwhile, Arthur doesn't know what happened and why he's in a hospital and why Vivi doesn't remember Lewis. Things get out of control a year later as he finds someone who he doesn't want to mess with. Then, a mysterious woman tries find someone who she has been looking for centuries.
Relationships: Arthur & Lance (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Lewis & Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Mystery (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis & Mystery (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis/Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: Mystery Skulls Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746313
Comments: 37
Kudos: 38





	1. The Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> If you didn't know, I made the character infos on Tumblr and this is going to be my first time to make an acutal story so don't expect everything.

Darkness. It was what this strange man saw around him. He didn’t know why and how it was dark, but he wanted to know where he was. Of course, he couldn’t see a thing, so when he tried to reach for his pocket, there wasn’t. The man patted down his side, finding the pocket that had his phone in it. He then started to get more confused and scared of what was going on. To his stressed out emotions, he put his hand on his hand. Wait, the feeling of his head, it’s strange. He used his other hand and felt the top. He rubbed it around, feeling it being smooth, rounded, hard as a rock. The man didn’t have hair, but he swore that he had hair. His black hair was short and brushed neatly. Was it baldness? No, he knew he wasn’t bald, because he didn’t feel the skin either which worried him more than the hair.

All of a sudden, his hand was on fire. He tried shaking it off, but it didn’t come off. He stopped shaking it, realizing the multiple questions that he had got from the fire. Where did it come from? Why isn’t it hurting me? Did I do this? The fire was something that made this man think that he was abnormal. The flames were a color of dark pink, magenta, it was his favorite color ever since he was little. Another thing that confused him was that it was harmless to him. He thought that it was and he was numb, but yet, he felt his skinless head. So what is going on? 

Since the fire had lit up, he looked at himself and realized that he was not the same he was before. His hands weren’t human-like, they were black. Not only black, he found some bones on his hands. What happened to my hands? He wondered. 

It wasn’t the only thing he saw. The man made the fire on his other hand and looked at his body. He was in shock as he saw that his clothes had changed. If he could recall last time, he used to wear a white shirt. A white shirt that was long and a neated purple vest that had a collar he would alway adjust every time he wears it. Then, he noticed that his ascot was gone too, his nice purple ascot that he would never forget to wear. His pants, which used to be a light black and his brown shiny shoes, had changed too. Instead, he was wearing a dark suit. He had a black jacket that people would wear at funerals with a purple tie. His pants were black, but too dark like his shoes that he saw when he bends down. 

The man was panicking, thinking that something bad had happened to him. “Think, think, think.” He finally spoke, distressed, trying to remember what had happened before this. “It was night, we went to a cave, then….” He paused, because the last thing he remembered was him falling. 

“You fell.” A mysterious voice had said. The man looked around, with his fiery hands, to find who spoke. 

“Hello!?” He said, alarmed. “Who are you?” The man was looking around, but found nothing but darkness. 

“Lewis Pepper, you have met an unfortunate death.” The voice spoke again. The man, known as Lewis Pepper, looked again, and again found nothing. At first, he thought he was hearing things. “You do realize that you can’t see me.” Lewis looked one last time until the voice said “But I can see you.” 

The voice was very deep and muscular. It was also echoey, because of the faded repeatings Lewis was hearing. “What do you mean I’m dead?” Lewis asked the voice as if he had all the knowledge. 

“Don’t you remember? How you fell into those SPIKES!” It said the word spikes as if it was important. “How they impaled right through your body, destroying your organs, losing a lot of blood.” 

“No! You’re wrong!” He shouted. “I’m not dead!” 

The voice laughed in a very creepy way. “Then why are you like that?” Lewis looked at himself again and he was getting second thoughts. Did he really die? Did those spikes the voice said really killed him? 

Lewis started to breathe fast, even though he realized that he doesn’t have lungs. He tried to feel his breath, but something was wrong. He couldn’t feel his lower jaw and also figured out that he didn’t have a neck either as he was trying to find a pulse. Was his head floating? He thought to himself. “No. no no no no.” He kept repeating. “I’m dead!” He shouted before he got on his knees, his hands covering part of his head left.

“Do you remember what happened?” The voice asked. Lewis stopped, looking up at the sky, trying to remember.

“We were in a cave.” Lewis said, standing up. His hand was up in the air, to picture his last moments. “I went left, Vivi went right, Arthur went left, Mystery went left.” He said as he pointed his finger right and left. 

“Then?” The voice had gotten deeper than last time. It had startled Lewis, but he kept continuing on. 

“I saw a cliff and I went to check it out.” Lewis closed his eyes, seeing if he could picture it more. “As I looked closer, something pushed me.” 

“What pushed you?” It asked.

“No.” Lewis whispered. “Arthur?” It was the last person he saw, Arthur Kingsmen. “It can’t be him. He’s just seventeen, a teenager.” 

“Are you sure?” The voice was getting more echoey and it was annoying Lewis. “Why would you think a teenager like him would be innocent to kill a man like you?”  
“He didn’t kill me!” He screamed. 

“You’re wrong Lewis!” The voice shouted, loud enough to start an earthquake. “The kid is nothing but a killer. Did you see his face? Did you see him smiling at your death?” 

The voice was right, Lewis saw his smile. He tried to prove the voice wrong by thinking that he wasn’t smiling. But it was the only thing he saw from his face. “He killed me?’ Lewis started to ask himself. 

“Oh, Lewis.” The voice said. “Arthur took the things you have loved. Your family, your life, your girlfriend.” 

“Vivi.” Lewis whispered again. “He wanted Vivi?” He tried to deny it because Vivi was older than him and he knows that Vivi knew more about him than Arthur. Yet, his anger started to take control. “He killed me.” He said again.

“Yes, let all of that anger out.” It said as if it was supporting him. “Arthur should’ve regretted killing you, but he didn’t.” 

Lewis spun out of control, the fire from his hands became larger. “He killed me!” His head was on fire too, but it was shaped like his hair, the one he was looking for. Then, Lewis had screamed at the top of his hollow chest. Magena fire had spread out everywhere on his body, creating an explosion. 

A few moments later, Lewis had worn himself out and he went on his knees, out of breath. He opened his eyes to find that the floor had changed. It wasn’t dark anymore, but it was carpet. This carpet was very unique and looked like it was used back in the Dark Ages. He looked around to find out he was inside of a house. No, a mansion. “What just happened?” He asked himself, thinking that he just turned an empty vast of darkness into a huge hall that was very strange. Lewis also noticed that the voice was gone. It didn’t speak and he was glad. He stood up and explored the mysterious room he was in. Lewis walked at the walls where paintings of different people were hung up. Then, he moved on to the middle, where he looked up to find a chandelier, rocking back and forth. The candles on the chandelier had lit up brightly, magenta was the color of the fire that was on the candles, like the fire that was on his hands. “What is this place?” He asked.

“Hello there.” A voice said behind him. Lewis turned around to see a tiny pink spirit who had golden eyes and a mouth that looked very cute. It had arms, but instead of legs, it had a tail which swayed side to side. It’s chest had a golden heart which beated. Lewis screamed in fear and so did this little spirit. Then, they both calmed down. “Sorry if I startled you Mr. Pepper.” 

Lewis had examined the little ghost. “Who are you?” He asked. Lewis thought that this little spirit was the voice he was hearing, but it was too high and looked too cute to sound creepy.  
“Oh, my name is Jaxen, but you can call me Jax.” The spirit said as it smiled happily at Lewis. “If you didn’t know from before, I’m a deadbeat.” 

“A deadbeat?” Lewis questioned because he never heard of a deadbeat. “What are deadbeats?” 

“Well.” Jax said, going to explain. “Deadbeats are little spirit helpers that do orders that ghosts give out.” Lewis was very interested as if someone was teaching him something that he would like to do. “And, I’m going to help you with your powers you have right there.” Jax said as he pointed at Lewis’s hands. 

“Ok Jax, but what is this place?” Lewis asked, looking around the room. 

Jax giggled. “Oh silly, this is your home.” Lewis was wide eyed when he said those words.

“M-my house?” He stuttered. “This has to be some mistake, I don’t live here.” 

“Sorry to be rude but, you do live here now.” Jax then went over to where the mirror was. “Would you like to see yourself?” Lewis nodded and went over to the mirror. In his reflection, he found himself faceless. His skull, without his lower jaw, was the only thing he could find on his face. His eyes were gone except that it was hollow, but had magenta pupils. He had his upper teeth which he was glad, but without his lower teeth, he could find it impossible to eat. But something else caught his attention. On his chest, there was a golden locket. He remembers the locket, Vivi gave it to Lewis on his last birthday. The golden locket was beating like the golden heart on Jax. Lewis took out the locket from his chest and opened it up. Inside the locket was a picture of him and a blue haired girl. Her face was young and beautiful, her blue scarf and sweater were what made the girl more cute. “Oh Vivi.” He said. 

“Are you ok, Mr. Pepper?” Jax said, who saw that Lewis was frowning. 

“I’m fine Jax.” He said as he puts the locket back on his chest, it beats again like a heart. He looks at the mirror again and asks “Is there a way to see my true self?” 

“But this is your true self sir.” Jax replied. 

“No, I mean seeing what I used to look like, as a human.” Lewis then went closer to the mirror, seeing if he can try to change his face. 

“Oh right, just believe that you can and it should work.” He answered.

Lewis closed his eyes, thinking that his face would change back to normal. As he opened them again, it did. His face was now like his old self, but his eyes were still black with a magenta color. His hair used to be black when he was alive, now it was pink. It was like he just dyed it like Vivi did. “Wow.” Lewis said, amazed with his transformation.  
“I told you sir.” Jax was happy again. “So, what are your plans?” He then floated close to Lewis as he stared at the mirror. “Will you explore the world? Or maybe discover the secrets beneath the ocean, but if you do go into the water, your hair would go away. Jax said thinking about it. “Can you think of anything else?” 

“Revenge.” He said quietly. 

Jax lost his smile and looked at Lewis. “I’m sorry?” He asked.

“I’m going to have my revenge.” Lewis said before walking away at the mirror and to the middle of the room. 

“Revenge doesn’t sound like a good idea, Mr.Pepper.” Jax said worried. 

“I want to make Arthur pay for what he has done to me.” Lewis said, angrily by thinking of Arthur’s crooked smile when he pushed him off. “He killed me Jax, I know it!” 

“Arthur is just a kid sir. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Jax was trying to get Lewis to calm down, but it wasn’t working. 

“He is a kid, one that needs to understand what happens when you murder the wrong person.” Lewis raised his hand as if he was holding something. Then, more deadbeats came in, floating around the hall. Lewis knew that he had the power to go against anything that gets in his way, starting with his killer.


	2. The Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finally wakes up in the hospital and he learns all the crazy things that have happened when he was in a two day coma.

In room 403 at the hospital, a seventeen year old teenager sleeps on the bed. The boy’s face was very pale. His hair, which had the color of brown, was very messy as if he didn’t brush it in months. He is wearing a white hospital gown and shows no signs of insanity nor pain. Yet, he moves around. The boy must be dreaming, or having visions of some sort. He moves his head to the right, then to the left. He is saying words like, “no” or “please stop”. During his sleep, a doctor walks in. The doctor was male who looked like he was aged between 30 to 40. Who was white and had a beard that looked very scruffy. His eyes were green like a granny smith apple and hair that was gray and short, military style. The suit the doctor was wearing was nice like it was tailored. How white it was. How it didn’t have any wrinkles, unlike the man’s hands which showed veins. He has a nametag on his chest, which said: “Doctor: Richard Winters”. Dr. Winters saw the poor kid, having these so-called nightmares he said in his clipboard which he had held. He walks over to him, touching the boy’s shoulder. “Mr. Kingsmen.” He whispered, not to make it worse to his nightmare he was having. 

The kid was still sleeping. This time, he had more movement in his sleep. “No.” He said again. 

Dr. Winters didn’t know what his nightmares were about, but he needed him to wake up. “Mr. Kingsmen.” He said again, but louder. 

It wasn’t even a second and this Kingsmen teenager sat up on bed. His eyes, which showed the color of blue, were wide. He inhaled when he woke up, then he exhaled. Again, he inhaled, then exhaled. After the teenager took his quick and deep breaths, he looked at the room. The white concrete walls that were in front of him was the first thing he saw, then it was the window to his left, then the bed he was laying on top, and finally, the doctor who woke him up. He looked at Dr. Winters for a few seconds until he said the first question he thought needed to be asked first. “What happened?” 

Dr. Winters exhaled, relieved. Mr. Kingsmen didn’t know why he did that, but he must know something he doesn’t. “Well Arthur.” He said as he looked at his clipboard. “It seems like you had a limb removal and lost a lot of blood.” 

Limb removal? That was Arthur, the teenager, questioned. He took off the blanket with his right arm. Wait a minute, he thought to himself, isn’t he left handed? If he was left handed, he would have used his left hand to lift up the sheets. And he found out why. On Arthur’s left side, he realized that his left arm was missing, nothing more than a wrapped up wound. He was getting scared. What happened to his left hand? He thought to himself again. “It’s gone.” Arthur said, shocked. 

“I was afraid that would be your reaction.” Dr. Winters said. “From what we know, someone called the hospital, saying that there was a teenager bleeding out and we came to the rescue.”  
Dr. Winters put the clipboard next to the table that was right beside the bed. “They said that you were losing a lot of blood, but you're here.” He said, as if Arthur was a lucky person. 

He needed time to think, someone called in. The last place he could remember was that he was with his friends, exploring a dangerous cave. Then, everything was just a blur as if someone erased his memory. But he did know one thing, that thing was a question he quickly asked. “Where’s Vivi?” 

The doctor looked at him. “Vivi?” 

“Yes, Vivi Yukino. Did she come by?” Arthur asked. Vivi Yukino was a friend of his, who he met last year. 

“Well, she was also at the hospital.” Dr Winters said. “She just checked out yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” He asked confusedly. From what he remembered, Vivi wasn’t at the hospital. 

“Yep, Ms. Yukino said that she was going to check herself out and then she went to see you before she left.” Arthur was silent. He didn’t know how she could stay at a hospital while he was sleeping. “That’s another thing I needed to talk to you about.” Dr. Winters said with a sigh. “You have been in a coma for two days.” 

He couldn’t believe it. Arthur never knew that he was in a coma in the first place. “Where’s Vivi?” Arthur asked again, this time, it was more demanding. 

“That’s why I’m here. Ms. Yukino wanted me to see how you were doing.” Dr. Winters then picked up the clipboard again. “I’ll go tell her the good news.” He then walks out, closing the door.

Arthur thought that this was the craziest and the most confusing morning ever. As he thinks to himself, he hears footsteps from the hall. These footsteps were soft, but quick. But those weren’t the only footsteps he hears. These ones were taps, and more than two feet. It must have been an animal, most likely a dog. He thought that someone was wounded badly or that someone was about to die and the visitor was late. But then, the door opens. A japanese woman, who wore a blue sweater with a blue scarf, opened the door widely. She looked at Arthur, then she said. “You’re ok.” She then walked over to him and hugged him. Arthur usually does a normal hug, but without his left arm, it was awkward. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up at all.” The woman had stopped hugging him and she stood up. Arthur knew who it was. Her face and skin was young and smooth. Her eyes, which were behind her pink tinted glasses told a story of romance and love, but her lips told a story about tragedy. Her hair, which was once blonde, but dyed blue, was messy as if she had also woke up which had a blue hairband on top. It was his friend, Vivi Yukino. But she wasn’t alone. Behind her was a dog with white fur, red on top of his head, and black on his head too and his tail. His eyes, which were red, were sparkling too as if he was getting a treat. The glasses on his snout were a gold tinted color, like the collar he was wearing which had the symbol of a question mark. The dog was Mystery, Vivi’s pet and her best friend in her family. Mystery, who was very excited to see Arthur, jumped on the bed. Vivi would have told her no, but Arthur let him.

“Vivi.” He said after he went silent for a few seconds. “Is it true that I have been in a coma for two days?”

She sighs, looking at the ground with her arms crossed. “Yes, I don’t know how, but I’m glad you’re alive.” Arthur became sad, knowing that he wasted two days, sleeping. Mystery felt his emotions and was whining. He came closer to him, giving him licks on his right hand. 

“Do you know what happened that night?” Arthur asked. He thought that maybe she might know. 

But unfortunately, she said “No, I can’t remember either.” It looked like Arthur hit a dead end with that question.

Then he asked, “Why were you in the hospital?” It’s a question Vivi should know. 

“The doctors said that I was with you when you were bleeding out. I was on the ground, knocked out.” Vivi explained.

“Do you know what they said?’ Arthur asked. He was asking these questions as if he was interrogating her. 

“They told me that I have severe memory loss and they don’t know what caused it.” Vivi said. Arthur didn’t know that she had suffered from memory loss. He was lucky that she was able to remember him. 

Then something popped in his head, Lewis. He hadn’t seen him since the night and wanted to know if he was alright. “What about Lewis? Is he ok?” 

After that question, Vivi started to flip out. She took a few steps back, looked down at the ground, then the ceiling, and back at him. “You too?” Arthur didn’t know what she was talking about when she said “You too”. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. “Is there something wrong with Lewis?” She puts her hand on her head, and shakes her head as if she was denying something. 

“Arthur, who is Lewis?” That question Vivi had said made Arthur really confused. What did she mean who Lewis was? She should know Lewis, he was her boyfriend. But, the doctor said that she had memory loss, so she must have forgotten him. 

“Lewis is your boyfriend, Vivi.” He replied. “He has been since high school, you told me about it.” 

Vivi was trying to remember, but she couldn’t think of anything that had the name Lewis. “I’m sorry Arthur, I can’t remember. Must be the memory loss.” Again, Mystery whined. Arthur petted him, to help soothe him. Then, Arthur tried to get up. Mystery gets down, not knowing why he’s getting up. Arthur got his right foot out of the bed, but Vivi grabbed onto his good arm and said “What are you doing?” 

“I’m getting out of the hospital, Vivi. I’ve been here for too long.” Arthur answered as he laid back on the bed. 

“Arthur, you haven’t checked yourself out yet.” Vivi said. 

They went silent for a few moments until Arthur asked one last question, “Can you check me out please?” 

Vivi who smiled at him, said “Sure. Come on Mystery.” She went out the door to talk to Dr. Winters on getting Arthur out of the hospital. But something strange happened, Mystery was about to leave until he turned around at Arthur. His expression was shown as sadness and Arthur saw that. Normally, a dog would just leave with their owner without looking back, but this was different. It would have gone longer, but Vivi called him again. 

Then, Arthur was alone. He stared right up the ceiling, thinking about all the things that he just heard for an hour. Until he asked one thing to himself, “What happened that night?”


	3. Uncle Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance comes home to find Arthur in the basement, looking for Lewis.

During the day, Vivi had gotten Arthur out of the hospital. He had gotten his old clothes that were in a plastic bag for two days and he wore them on. The next day, his uncle, Lance Kingsmen said that he was going to pay the bill and that he was happy to see that Arthur was alive. Then, Arthur went to Lewis’s restaurant, Pepper Paradiso where he finds his parents who say that he hasn’t seen Lewis in two days. Arthur tried to find Lewis, but he wasn’t anywhere, like he disappeared. 

All of that was a year ago. Lewis had been missing for a whole year. People thought that he was lost, while some of them thought that he just simply ran away to find a new life. Arthur knew that he didn’t run away, Lewis loved his life as a paranormal investigator and a cook. Meanwhile, Vivi still doesn’t know who Lewis is. Everyone in the town of Hustonville thought that she might have been lying and knew something about Lewis’s disappearance, but she didn’t. 

A day later, a truck was driving down a deserted road. This truck had a brownish color with rust on the sides. The windows were scratched, but not broken. It looked like it was used by generations of families and they went to war in this truck. The tires were brand new, mostly because it may have changed not too long ago. Inside of the truck was a middle aged man, who was short enough to look like he was a 5’2, probably couldn’t reach the petals so he attached sticks to his shoes to press down on it.. His face was dirty, covered with whatever he did in his job. The hair, which was brown, of this man was short, as if he just had a haircut. His beard was long and tangled. The eyebrows beneath his green eyes were huge and fuzzy. The man’s nose was big, but not crooked. His hands that were wearing black fingerless gloves, that were holding onto the steering wheel were rough and looked like it had been through some damage. 

The man looked over at a house, the only house in the middle of the desert. It had one floor, a roof that was dirty, and walls that were made out of a colored metal. It’s front yard looked abandoned, roughen up like there has been a dustbowl. The man drove to the side of the road where there was a driveway made out of dirt. He then stopped the truck, opened the door and got out. From his appearance, he was overweight, short, and clothes that had been picked out in the kids section. He was wearing light blue jeans that were stained with dirt, which was tightened with a belt. This belt was not a normal belt men usually wear. This belt was a wrestler’s belt he had collected as an award when he did wrestling back in college. His boots were also dirty, but were useful enough to hike in them. He also had a white shirt on, a shirt that had it’s sleeves torn off. It was underneath an orange vest he had which looked cleaner than the other things he was wearing. 

The man walked towards the house and he opened it with a key he had in his pocket. As he walked in, he took off the vest he had on and he put it up a rack which had hats and umbrellas. He walks around the house, looking for something particular. “Arthur?” He calls. “Are you home?” There was silence, he thought that Arthur wasn’t home. But yet, Arhur did say he would be home early. As he looks around again, he finds a picture frame that was faced down. The man picks up the picture frame which showed a photo of him and his nephew, Arthur Kingsmen. In the photo, they were smiling. Arthur looked at least 13 and the man had his beard shaved. On the bottom of the picture, it said the words “Uncle and Nephew”. The uncle was the man, Lance Kingsmen or as Arthur would call him, Uncle Lance. Lance was a mechanic who has his own company called Kingsmen Mechanics a few miles away from his house. He knew Arthur as a baby when he went to visit his brother, Arhur’s dad. After a few years, he learned that his brother and his brother’s wife were murdered in their own house. The police called him, saying that their son, Arthur was safe but was crying because he heard the gunshots as he ran away in the forest. Lance knew that Arthur was in danger and needed to keep him safe. So he grabbed him and took care of him for years. Arthur was the only child left in the family and without him, they would be nothing. 

Lance put down the picture frame and found out that the basement light was on. He looked down the steps and saw that there was someone down there because he can hear the typing on a keyboard and things shuffling around like metal. He takes a step down and says “Arthur?” Still, nothing. He decides to take more steps down until he gets to the basement where he finds Arthur, sitting on a chair on the computer. It also looks like he had headphones on which explains why Arthur couldn’t hear Lance calling him. Lance looks around the room, seeing how messy it was. There were tools spread out, papers out on the desk with pencils and pens. He also finds a trashcan next to the desk Arthur was working on. In the trashcan had cans of energy drinks. Lance knew that he doesn’t drink energy drinks and that Arthur had a serious issue with not sleeping for days. 

He goes closer to Arthur, calling his name again. This time, Arthur turns around. He looks surprised and he takes the headphones out of his ears. “Uncle Lance.” He says. “Your home early.” Arthur was wearing an orange vest like the one his uncle was wearing. His shirt behind it was white, but it was a t-shirt. He wore brown khakis and tennis shoes. 

Lance didn’t know what was going on with Arthur for a whole year. “Arthur, I was calling your name several times.” 

Arthur looked shamly at himself, how could he have been so stupid? “Sorry uncle.” He said, disappointedly. Arthur had changed for the whole year. The first thing that was new about him was his age, he was eighteen. Arthur believed that he was ready to vote, but there were some issues to that like, getting signed up and paying for it. Another thing was that he had a new arm that was replacing his old arm which was still missing. The arm was a metal prosthetic, shiny like silver from a brand new coin. He spent months on his prosthetic arm, creating all the movements on it, knowing the functions, dealing with the expenses of it. Arthur thought that the arm was a success and that it would be presented to a convention where he would show everyone his creativity. Unfortunately, he was also afraid that someone would copy his and say that theirs were the first. 

“It’s ok kiddo.” Lance said, forgiving him for his ignorance. He looks at the computer again to see that he was researching something with maps. “What are you doing on the computer?” He asked. 

Arthur looked back at the computer and back at Lance “Oh, I was studying something.” He said. Lance kinda believed him, but there was also something he wasn’t talking to him about. 

“Studying what?” He asks again. Arthur needed to tell him the truth, but he wasn’t risking losing time. 

Arthur sighs. “I know he’s still here.” 

Lance puts his hand on his forehead, his head tilted to the ground. “Arthur, we talked about this.” 

“I know, but hear me out.” Arthur said quickly, to explain his actions. “I’ve been doing some calculations on each of the roads that lead out of the town.” Lance had his ears opened. “Well, I just thought that it would be impossible for him to walk all the way down to the highway.” He knew this because he remembered that the gang drove the van all the way to the cave. He didn’t own any other vehicle because he sold the car he was driving two years ago. 

“Arthur, I know that you miss him but-” Lance was going to say, but was interrupted by Arthur.

“Uncle, I know he’s here! I don’t know why Lewis is hiding, but I know that he stayed in the town.” 

“Listen to me!” Lance said, getting Arthur to shut up. He then sighs slowly. “Arthur, he’s gone. Lewis is not in the town, the police checked everywhere. And whatever happened before his disappearance, had to do something with your missing arm and Vivi’s memory loss. I really hope that he wasn’t responsible for those.” 

Arthur stared at him, saddened by the fact that Lance might be right. “What if he wasn’t?” 

“If he wasn’t, he would have been found. He would have come to check on you everyday. He would have known the truth, but he’s not here Arthur.” Lance said before Arthur dropped the headphones on the table. Slumped back on the rolling chair, his hands on his legs. “I’m sorry to say this, but you wasted the whole year looking for him and you don’t even know where he is.” Lance went to the trash can. “I mean, look at this.” He said, shaking the trash can to find more cans of energy drinks. “You haven’t slept in days because you keep drinking these energy drinks.” Arthur looked at the trash can, he never really cared about how many he drank. As long if it kept him awake, he wouldn’t have problems.

“So? I think it’s a good way to be more active.” Arthur said. 

“Active, but you need to sleep.” Lance demanded. 

“I already took a nap Uncle Lance, I don’t need to sleep right now.”   
“How long was that nap?”

“About two hours.”

Lance gave him the dirty look. “Don’t lie to me.” 

“I’m being honest!” Arthur said.

Then, Lance dropped the trash can. “What about Vivi, when's the last time you saw her?”

“Yesterday, we talked on the phone.” Arthur said before logging out of his computer and shutting it off. 

“How about you see her in person? She could use some company after she lost her memories.” Lance said, giving Arthur a chance to do something other than staying indoors, finding Lewis. 

Arthur sighs. “I guess so. I’ll text her to say that we should go somewhere fun.” He said as he got his phone out.

“That’s the spirit!” Lance roars as he smiles at Arthur doing something productive. “Anyway, after you are done with planning where to go, I want to see you driving to your location instead of going in circles.” 

“Yes sir.” Arthur responds. Arthur had gotten a text from Vivi saying that she would like to go to a cafe for lunch. He replied with an “ok”. 

A few minutes later, Arthur gets ready and heads outside to the van. As he’s driving out of the driveway, Lance looks out the window, seeing him go down the road until he can’t. He had always thought that Arthur would be fine after what happened the night his arm was ripped off. But things have changed, he was not the same after that and Lance needed to find help for him.


	4. The Yukino Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi is going to get ready to see Arthur, but her parents don't approve of the clothes she wears. Plus, Mystery tells Grandma Yukino what really happened in the cave.

It was almost afternoon. Vivi was lying on her wooden bed which was very messy while Mystery was sleeping on a dog bed Vivi had bought for him. Her room was very messy and she didn’t have any issues with it even if her parents told her to clean up. Her walls had her favorite color which was blue with a poster of a japanese dragon. As she was lying there, she kept having these thoughts about people telling her all about Lewis. How handsome he was, the way he cooked food for everyone, and how nice and polite he was to her. If she could remember, she would know why he was her boyfriend. As she was daydreaming, Vivi’s phone vibrated. She decided to check it, searching through all of the notifications she had received. She finds out that Arthur had texted her if she would like to meet up with him somewhere. She thinks of all of the places she and Arthur could go to. Then she found a good place where they can talk and eat. She texts him to meet her at the diner in the town. He agrees with an ok. Vivi, who was in her black tank top, gets ready for her lunch with Arthur. On the right side of her arm, she has a tattoo of a japanese dragon that went from her shoulder, down to where her elbow was. The dragon itself had the colors of blue, yellow, and red on the scales with green eyes and fire that was a color of orange. When she was nineteen, she wanted a tattoo for her birthday, so she went to the tattoo shop where she had made the request for the tattoo artist to make her a colorful japanese dragon. She still is proud of her tattoo and she wouldn’t change a thing on it. Then she goes to her brown wooden drawer where all of her books and papers from her essays she was writing were on top of it. She opens the drawer to find a couple of socks, which were blue of course. She takes them out and she puts them on her feet. From the sound of the drawer closing, Mystery woke up from his nap to see Vivi going around the room, getting stuff. She then heads downstairs and Mystery follows her. Vivi hears the sound of a dog’s footsteps and she turns around to see Mystery right behind her. “Hey Mystery, did you have a good nap?” She said as she crouched down to pet him. Mystery barks in response. “I don’t know if they would allow pets in the diner, but we can try.” Vivi goes to the stairs where she hears a blender go off. 

She makes it all the way downstairs where she finds her dad, on the leathery couch in the living room, reading one of those books that were about murder mystery. He turned around to see Vivi, while she looked at him. He was an old man, but not as old as her grandmother who was hidden in her room upstairs. But he did have grey streak lines on his black hair from his hairline all the way to the back of his head. His face shows that he had a couple of wrinkles and eyes that were so tired, it looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. He was lucky that his own eyes which had the shade of blue weren’t bloodshot. The clothes he wears tells Vivi that he made a lot of meetings today because he was wearing a grey neat suit, along with a red tie that was pretty smooth. His pants were gray too, not leaving any wrinkles and his brown shiny shoes like glass were fancy and the shoe ties were tied perfectly Her dad or as everyone else calls him, Mr. Yukino, was a man who usually has a passion for novelties and how he can create a world where he gets to make sure peace exists. But the real world has peace, Vivi once said to him as a child. His response was that peace was a limited resource like oil and money. He then told a story of the many wars that had happened years ago and how people would fight for their country. Mr. Yukino wasn’t a fan of war because he believed that soldiers who died young deserve another chance at life, to show the world that peace needs to be created more. “Are you going somewhere Vivi?” He asked, wanting to know about her plans. 

“I’m heading to the diner to meet Arthur there.” Vivi said, calmly. She knew that he would let her go do stuff with friends except if it was involved with drugs or weapons, then he would deny her requests. 

But then her mother walked out of the kitchen and into the living room “What’s going on in here you two?” She said with a mix of curiosity and joy. Vivi’s mom was old but not much. This time though, instead of having wrinkles like Vivi’s father does, her face was young. Her brown eyes were beautiful with those eyelashes. She said that her eyelashes were so spectacular, every men can sense it from a 50 mile radius. Her light blonde hair was straight and short at the same time. She was wearing earrings that were shaped like the number eights. Her lips were painted with a dark cherry lipstick as her face was powdered with a peachy color. The dress she wore was yellow, bright as the sun. But this dress had flowers on them. Blue, red, pink, black, and gold flowers. Her brown sandals showed her young feet and her toes that had been nail polished with red along with her fingernails. Mrs. Yukino had felt like a free person who needed to spend her whole life as a tree hugger. She looked at VIvi and felt disgust in her body. “Vivi my dear, are you sure you want to wear that?” She asked her politely, not to judge her poorly. 

Vivi looked at her sweater in confusion and then looked at her. “What’s wrong with it?” She asked, confused by why her mom doesn’t like her sweater.

“Honey, it’s hot outside and you want to wear a sweater?” Her mom said, getting uncomfortable by Vivi’s choice of clothing.

Vivi stretched her sweater, making it more flexible and stretchy. “Mom, it’s a cold core sweater. It can absorb the heat from it and can keep me cool.” Vivi was right. That sweater was made out of a special type of fabric that can collect the heat from the sun and Vivi wouldn’t sweat. 

“Well what about your reputation? Do you want people to look at you and that sweater like some crazy person?” Mrs. Yukino asked, toxicity. 

“No but, I love this sweater mom. It has been my favorite ever since high school.” Vivi said, arguing about it. 

“You’re wearing a skirt. Doesn’t it bother you that much that you are wearing a short skirt and a sweater with long sleeves?” She was getting irritated by the fact Vivi doesn’t pay attention or care about style that much.

“I bet she’s wearing it because of that tattoo she has on her right arm.” Mr. Yukino jokingly said as he kept reading the book. 

“That’s not true!” She shouts at him. Vivi was getting more annoyed because of her parents telling her what is right and wrong. “What would you expect me to wear then?” She said to Mrs. Yukino.

“Well, how about a t-shirt? One that is appropriate in public places.” Mrs. Yukino demanded. To this, Vivi heads upstairs with a sigh as Mystery follows her and goes back to her room where she opens her closet door to find a t-shirt. She had a couple of shirts that could work like the one that had a blue whale on it, but she thought that it was too childish. The next shirt she grabbed was a brown-red shirt that had the word Kentucky, which she had worn during her summer vacation. She refused that one because of how boring it was. Mystery looked at her going through the shirts she kept holding and hanging them back again. He knew that it would have taken a long time for her to find a good shirt, so he made a low growl, telling her to hurry up. Vivi looked at him and scoffed in frustration. “I’m still looking. Be patient.” She then picks out a white t-shirt that has a sunflower on it. Since it didn’t look too childish or boring, Vivi thought that it would be the one. So, she takes out the hanger, gets her sweater off, and puts on the t-shirt. Mystery was panting happy because she was finally done picking out her shirt and couldn’t wait until they got to the diner with Arthur. 

She and Mystery went back downstairs where Mrs. Yukino looked at her again and said “That’s better.” She was fine now that Vivi put on some good clothes for the hot weather. 

“Now I can go.” Vivi said, finally waiting for this moment. 

“Actually, before you go.” Mr. Yukino said. “Can you give this box to your grandma?” Vivi looked at the box that was sitting on the coffee table that had the words “Grandma’s things”. 

“What's inside?” Vivi asked, curious about the cardboard box.

“Not sure. Found it sitting in the corner when I was cleaning out the basement.” Mr. Yukino and Mrs. Yukino had been cleaning all day and he started their bedroom, the kitchen, the living room and some of the basement. “She should be in her room doing whatever she likes doing.” 

Vivi then carried the box upstairs to her grandma’s room. She knocks on the door with her elbow. “Grandma? Are you in there?” She asked, almost losing her balance with the box. 

“Come in dear.” She said, silently. Vivi opens the door to see how dark the room was except for a couple of candles near her. She was old and fragile like a vase from the old ages. Her hair, white as the clouds Vivi would look at in the sky. The clothes she wears tells a story of life and death. A white rope was around her with a blue outfit inside. Her staff which was placed on the floor next to her was decorated with culture and religion. Grandma Yukino was meditating until Vivi interrupted her. “I see you have my box.” She said. “I have been looking for that for months.”

Vivi puts down the box slowly so it wouldn’t break. “What’s inside it?” Vivi asks. 

“Oh, it’s some of my old stuff back when I was your age.” She explained. She then grabbed the box and opened it. “I could properly show you some things inside.” 

“Actually I have to go somewhere, I don’t want to keep Arthur waiting.” Vivi said.

“Oh my bad. You go see him while I look through my things.” She said as she grabbed out a photo of her as a young woman and a man. But before Vivi could leave, she said “Wait, Mystery can stay here.” 

They both looked at each other and then back at her. “Why?” Vivi asked, trying not to be rude.

“I just need some company as I go through these things.” She replied. Vivi then tells Mystery to stay with grandma as she goes to the diner. Mystery whines, but she promises him that she will get something good for him. As she left, things changed. “So Mystery, I think we both know why I told you to stay.” 

To Vivi and everyone else who had seen him, he was just a normal dog. But to her, he was a creature who lived longer than a normal human being. “I can explain everything.” Mystery had spoken for the first time in a whole year. Grandma wasn’t surprised that Mystery was able to talk, but she had more problems on her mind. 

“Then tell me about the cave.” She said. Mystery sat down in front of her, making eye contact. “I know that Arthur’s arm wasn’t torn off by any wild animal except you. So why did you do it?” 

Mystery sighed in disappointment. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, but it was the only way.” 

She had raised her eyebrow up. “Then what really happen that night?” 

“When we went to that cave, we were planning to check it out and then head back. But I felt something there. Something that didn’t want us in that cave. Lewis told us that we were going to split up, so he suggested that Vivi and I should take the left path while him and Arthur take the right one. Something still felt wrong, it was coming from where Lewis and Arthur went.” Mystery said, telling grandma every detail he can say. “So I went up there and I saw something that got me alerted, Arthur’s left arm.” 

“What about it?” She asked.

“It wasn’t normal, it was turning green, it had claws. I felt darkness inside him, I had to stop him.” He then felt silent after he found that Grandma was looking at him in shame. “It’s not like that!” He sighs and keeps going. “I moved slowly, to see if Arthur was alright. But he walked towards Lewis. I saw him struggling, his right foot and hand shaking while his left hand and foot were just still. I tried to bark to get their attention, but it was too late.” Mystery looked down at the ground then back at her. “He pushed Lewis off the ledge.” 

She started to get more disappointed about it. How it turned out that it was a murder. 

“I didn’t know what got into him. I thought that it was an accident, because I heard him crying. But then, I heard laughing which got me more alerted. So, I barked. When I did that, Arthur turned around and I knew from the beginning that I needed to do something.” 

“What was wrong with him?”

“The left side of his face was green, it wasn’t normal for him to have that! He must have been possessed by something. And I needed to act quickly before he makes things worse. So I did what you told me not to do.”

“And what was that?” 

“I used my true form. I fought him, pinned him to the ground as I used my teeth to rip off his possessed arm.” 

“What did you do with that arm?” 

“I threw it into the pits where Lewis’s body was. But after I did that, I realized that it was a terrible mistake.” He takes deep breaths as he focuses on what else he remembers. “Arthur. He was on the ground, not moving. I thought that he died too, but he was barely breathing so I had to help him.” 

And Vivi?

“I found her too on the ground, but something was off about her. Her eyes were purple. I didn’t know what would cause that but it had to be connected to her memory loss somehow.” He went silent again as he saw Grandma getting a little angry at him. “To make a long story short, I used Arthur’s phone to call the ambulance to get here, but until then I just wrapped my tails around Arthur’s wound.”

She sighs after he was done explaining. “Mystery, I know what you did was heroic, but have you forgotten what this means?” Mystery knew what it meant and he whined. “She now has a location to track you and if she did, she could possibly hunt you down in hours!” 

“I know. That’s why I won’t use it again.” Mystery promised to her. 

“I hope so, because if she uses your blood as her energy, she can rule the world.” Grandma knew all the dangers of this strange woman they are talking about. Who was this woman? And why was she so desperate to track Mystery down? But later, grandma continued looking at the box, finding a necklace that had a snowflake on it and a journal of hers. Mystery was going to leave but grandma said “If you can Mystery, find out about Vivi’s memories and how you can get them back.” 

“I will.” He said before secretly opening the door so Mr and Mrs. Yukino won’t see him do it, leaving Grandma alone again. She hopes that Mystery would fix his own mistakes, but yet he always makes more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, this is the longest chapter I did in this story.


	5. Small Drinks and Big Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Vivi have their lunch time together, but some things won't leave behind in the past.

The diner. It’s one of the few places that reminds people what their purpose was, food. Diners represent the types of meals they cook and prepare for their customers with their 1970 decorations and jukeboxes that play songs that get people dancing under disco balls. The food on the other hand makes a person’s dream come true. For example, say a man walked into the diner. He sits on the stool where the bar is at. He orders a coffee and some eggs, because it’s 5 AM in the morning, thus stating that he is a truck driver who needs to deliver goods, 100 miles from the storages. The truck driver takes a sip of coffee, getting the caffeine he needs for the trip, and a bite of eggs, for the nutrients to stay alive. But those are not the reasons why he drank the coffee or ate the eggs. It’s about the relationship with them, how he loves the taste and the smell of them. This is the reason why he wastes 15 dollars on things that are not only the basic needs of life, but most likely, what he desires. After he is done with his things, he pays it in credit card and heads back to the truck and drives on, until the next morning, where he gets the same things, over and over again. 

That’s what Arthur had daydreamed when he was sitting at the booth, next to the window, of the diner Vivi had told him where to be. He had this wild imagination ahead of him, not the fantasy that people who play dungeons and dragons can think about, but what he would see in his future self. Being a truck driver was his second best thing that he plans for his graduation, just in case something goes wrong with becoming an inventor. Arthur was the type of person who loves to travel, not the world but in North America. His whole life was spent indoors, working on machines that he proved would make the future a better place for everyone. But things have changed. Arthur focused on finding Lewis who was still missing for over a year. Even if he couldn’t remember well, he knows that he is still alive somewhere in the town. 

He still waits for Vivi to arrive, looking out the window where he sees his orange van in the parking lot. Where is she, Arthur thinks to himself. Then a waitress came by to give Arthur a glass of iced water. He looked at the waitress and said “Thank you.” The waitress responds by nodding at him and walking to a couple who are waiting on their food. Arthur looks at the water and grabs it with his right hand. The sip of the water felt a cold touch in his lips and tongue, like he was going to get a brain freeze as if he was eating ice cream on a sunday night. 

Back at the window, Vivi drives to the parking lot in her brown 2005 Chevy car who parks next to his van. She gets out of the car and walks to the door. Then, Vivi walks to the booth where Arthur was drinking his water as he stared. “Sorry I'm late.” Vivi said, apologizing to Arthur. “Had some issues with clothing.” 

Arthur looked at her shirt that had a yellow sunflower on it. “I’m just glad you came.” He said after he put down his cup. “I like the shirt, where did you get it from?” He asked, wanting to know what store she got it. 

She looks down at her shirt, and says “I got this from that mall a couple of miles from here. It’s called Nancy’s Clothes.” Nancy Clothes was a popular clothes store for girl teenagers. They put up sales each summer, making them buy more than one or becoming a black friday. Vivi chose that shirt during a black friday since the place was crowded and she didn’t have any time to decide on one. The price of the shirt was cheap and Vivi was really pleased about it. 

“You know.” Arthur said. “I should get some new clothes. One that fits my personality.” 

Vivi puts her elbows on the table, her hands on the sides of her face. “And what is your personality?” She asks, doubtfully. 

“I want a pair of clothes that tell me that I’m a guy who likes to make stuff and show them to everyone.” Arthur explained. “Then, I want new shoes to tell people how fast I am. Probably ones with orange and black. Those are my favorite.”

Vivi laughs. “Well, you are a good runner.” 

Before they can continue on, the same waitress who gave the water to Arthur came by their table. “Hi there.” She said in a cheerful tone. “My name is Sarah and I’m going to be your waitress for the day.” Sarah was wearing her work outfit which was a pink shirt with black straps that had her nametag on it, a pink skirt that looked like it was used for ballerinas, and high heels that show Sarah how to be a proper lady. Sarah’s hazel eyes were like milk chocolate that had eyelashes around them. Her lipstick was bright red and her golden hair was almost shiny. 

“Yes,.... uhh, would you like to go first Vivi?” Arthur asks, as both he and Sarah look at her. 

“Thank you Arthur.” She said in a polite way. “Can I have two burgers please? A veggie with tomato, lettuce, and onions. And the other one would be the bacon chicken cheeseburger with some french fries.” Vivi watched Sarah taking the orders down before giving her a confused look. “It’s for someone.” 

“Ok, then. What about you sir?” Sarah asks Arthur. 

“I would just have the original cheese sandwich please.” Arthur replied. Sarah also wrote down his order, then headed back to the kitchen where she gave the chefs their orders. Arthur looked back at Vivi in a “what did you say” way. “Two burgers?” He said, confused. 

“The bacon one is for Mystery.” Vivi said, making Arthur roll his eyes. “I know what you're thinking so don’t roll your eyes at me.” 

“He’s a dog Vivi, why would he want a bacon chicken cheeseburger? Arthur asked, argumently.

“Did I not tell you the story?” Vivi asked him. 

“What story?” Arthur asked back. 

“Well it was a month ago and my dad was making steak. After my grandma refused to eat the steak because she said that it made her sick, I thought that Mystery would like some since he would be the only one left out of the party.” Vivi slams the table, but not too loudly to get everyone’s attention. “He ate the whole thing Arthur.” Arthur scoffs. “I’m not kidding, I saw him eat the meat off of that steak and cleaned the bone.” 

“You have to be lying. There is no way for a small dog like him to eat an entire steak without being cutted up.” Arthur said, doubting her story. 

“I swear, Mystery is like some beast who should be in an eating competition.” That made Arthur snort, before putting his cup down. 

“Do you really think that Mystery can join an eating competition?” He asked. 

“I wish, but as we all know it, dogs aren’t allowed in a human eating competition. Plus, there are no dog eating competitions.” Vivi stated. “But as soon as I get back home, he will eat this entire burger in a second.” 

“At that point, you might want to take him to the vet to see if he would be alright.” Arthur suggested.

“He’ll be fine, anyway let's eat.” She said as both of them eat their food. After a few minutes, Arthur and Vivi both finished their food and Sarah gave them the check. Vivi said that she was going to pay for it, but Arthur said that he was going to do it because he should be the gentleman. After he paid the check, Vivi got a to-go box for Mystery’s burger and they went out the door and onto the sidewalk. “Do you want to walk around the town?” She asked. 

Arthur didn’t know if he should, but since he was having fun, he said “Yeah, it’ll help us get through the day.” They walked to the right of the diner where they found a couple of stores straight ahead of them. Arthur looked down at the sidewalk as Vivi looked to her right where she sees a bank and an alleyway where it looks nasty and full of crimes. Arthur sighs and it had gotten Vivi’s attention since this was supposed to be a fun day.

“Is something wrong?” Vivi asked. 

Arthur looks up at her. “I know that he’s here.” He said with both positivity and negativity emotions. “Lewis, I know he’s still alive.” 

Vivi wanted that name out of her head, but people kept saying that she used to know him from before. “I wish I could remember him, but I can’t.” Vivi said hopelessly.

“You have to remember something about him.” Arthur said, encouragely. “Maybe the night you two went to the movies and saw a romantic.”  
“I don’t remember watching romantic movies.” Vivi said. 

“How about when he gave you that blue scarf you loved from 5 years ago when you were at high school?” 

“I thought my parents gave me that scarf for Christmas.” 

“That’s what you think, but he gave it to you. He told me about it.” 

It went on for sometime until Vivi couldn’t handle it anymore. “Arthur please!” She shouted. “I told you many times that I don’t know anything about Lewis!” Arthur went silent. He had never seen Vivi this mad before, but he did ask her questions that she doesn’t know about. “I know that you miss him, and I would too if I can remember him, but don’t you think that he won’t be back?” 

Arthur felt depressed now. Hearing those words coming out of her mouth. First it was his uncle who told him to give up, now Vivi? It was like the whole world said that Lewis was non-existent. “I know he’s alive, I just need time.” 

Vivi sighed. She thought that Arthur went crazy and could spend most of his life, finding a friend who disappeared for no reason. He didn’t have a place to start looking for him or any clues to his location. “Let’s just let it behind us and get going.” Vivi begged. 

“I guess so.” Arthur said, sadly. They started to walk again and Vivi looked to her right again to find a store called Jorge’s Antiques that sold accessories and jewelry. 

“Let’s go there.” She said, pointing at the store. Arthur looked at the store and he agreed by nodding. They crossed the road to the other side, making sure that no cars were going to hit them, and opened the door where they felt a breeze coming in. The store had this smell where it smells like wood and air freshener. The inside of it looked like they were at their grandparents house as the walls had a shade of dark green and newly wooden floors. 

“Hello there.” A man said in the back of the store. The man was wearing a green shirt that matched the walls, with brown long pants and tennis shoes. The man was wearing a nametag that said “Gorge”, which means that he is the owner of the store. His face looked tan like he was in the sun all day, as his green eyes were light. “Welcome to my store.” He said, greeting them. “My name is Gorge and I have a lot of things on sale if you like to see them.”

That had gotten Vivi’s interest and she went to ask Gorge on all the jewelry they have on sale. Arthur decided to go to where the pins were. He was a pin person, he would find some in stores or online and he would pick out the ones that satisfy him the most. Last time, he found a pin that had a picture of a wrench that reminded him of what he did for a living, being a mechanic. As he was looking, he found a huge selection of pins from small to large, colorful to bland, and pictures to just nothing. Arthur felt like this store was a pin store and he was a regular here. He then examined all the pins his eyes kept getting caught on and there was one that had gotten his attention more than any, a star pin. This pin was shaped like a star instead of a round one. It was orange and bright like his vest. The pin had the price at ten dollars and he knew that it was the pin he was going to get. He got to the checkout desk where he sees Vivi looking at the necklaces Gorge was showing her. Her eyes were sticking onto one that had the jewels and silver. “I would like to buy this pin sir.” Arthur said.

“I see you got one of the special pins there.” Gorge said as he went to his cash register. “From what I have heard, those are one of the pins that give people luck.” Luck was one of the things that Arthur likes since he was superstitious about everything he does or sees. “That would be ten dollars.” 

Arthur gives him the ten dollar bill and Gorge takes the pin to put it in the bag, but Arthur said he would like to wear the pin on him. As he was adjusting the pin on his vest, he felt like he was getting the luck right now and can feel it in his body. “That looks good on you.” Vivi said, judging him with the pin on his vest. 

“Thank you.” Arthur said, proud of himself. Vivi thought it was time to go and Arthur said it so too. 

“Thank you for shopping at my store.” Gorge said, thanking them. Arthur and Vivi turned around and waved at him. Out of the store, they decided that it was time for them to go home. 

They crossed the street and walked on the sidewalk again. Arthur thought that the day was done, but Vivi has some other plans. “So Arthur.” She said, getting Arthur’s attention. “I was wondering if you were busy tonight.” 

“Not really, I was going to do you know what.” Arthur said as Vivi nods. “But what did you need?” 

“I was wondering if you would like to drive us around at night.” Vivi requested. “I thought it would be a good way to spend the night with you, me and Mystery.” 

“Sure, I think that would be a good idea since I like to drive.” Arthur answered. They walked back to the parking lot of the diner where they spotted their two cars still parked. As Arthur was getting into his car, he felt something in his left pocket. He digged through to feel paper, but it just wasn’t paper that Arthur uses to write stuff in. He grabs it out to find a folded photograph. The picture included Lewis and Vivi who were wearing Christmas sweaters as they smiled at the camera. Arthur remembered the photo, he was the one who took it in the first place as they were staying at Vivi’s house. He thought it was a good idea for Vivi to take a look at the picture to see if she can remember him. “Vivi, wait!” He said, making sure Vivi didn’t leave just yet. “Take a look at this.” Vivi took the photo from Arthur and looked at it. 

She saw herself and a strange man she doesn’t know about. “Is this him?” She asks. Before she could say anything else, her eyes flashed pink. Then, she collapsed. Arthur, who was shocked, tried to get Vivi back on her feet. He took the photo from the ground, which Vivi dropped during the collapsed.

“Vivi! Are you okay!?” Arthur said, worried about her. 

Luckily, Vivi got up slowly, her head was hurting as she put her hand over it. “Yeah, I just felt dizzy and fell.” She looked at his left hand to find the same photo before. But this time, she asked “What’s that in your hand?”


	6. Call Me Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Lance have an argument about what is going on with Vivi's memory loss and Lewis's disappearance Then, Arthur gets a new plan on how he can find Lewis.

“I’m telling you uncle, I saw it!” Arthur said to Lance who was checking out the engine of a blue subaru. They were both at their workplace called “Kingsmen’s Mechanics” where they repair any broken vehicles that had to get engines replaced, windows fixed, or tires pumped. Lance had the shop years ago when he had gotten enough money on his savings to make his own shop. After three more years, he showed Arthur how to fix cars in case he wants Arthur to own the shop since he will be growing up soon. Arthur had gained a lot of experience with repairing cars and he had made Lance proud because of it. 

“Arthur, I understand that you are telling me the truth, but it doesn’t make any sense.” Lance said. “How can Vivi’s eyes flash pink?” Lance didn’t believe that Arthur saw her eyes flashing pink just before she fell to the ground. “Where’s the science behind it?” 

Lance would think that Arthur would be stumped on that question, but he gave out a prominent answer. “It had to be supernatural.” Arthur said, bluntly. “I know that I don’t know anything scientific behind it, but I know what I saw.” 

“And you think it’s related to her memory loss?” Lance questioned, indicating to his whole theory. 

“Well yeah, she asked about the picture I just showed her.” Arthur said, directly. 

Lance sighed as he closed the hood of the car. “I had never thought that my own nephew would become insane.” He said, bleakly. 

“I’m not crazy!” Arthur said, disapproving what he said. “How can I show you what I saw?” 

Lance snorted. “Never. Not in a million years, Arthur.” He then went to the toolbox to grab a metal wrench and a couple of nuts in the plastic drawer which had the label on it. “I just don’t want to have you show me something that I can’t see.” 

“Again, I’m not crazy.” Arthur said, annoyed. Lance then opened the hood again and Arthur helped him by grabbing the flashlight, turning it on, and shining the light to where Lance had to put in the nuts. “I just need Vivi to see the picture again and you can see that I’m not the only one.” 

Lance tightens the nuts onto the engine and closes the hood as Arthur turns off the flashlight. “Now how do you know that Vivi would be fine with this?” He asked, curiously. “Have you remembered what she had to go through with the hospital visits and the therapy?” Arthur hadn’t thought of that. It was true that she went to those things. Getting check ups, examining her brain to see if her behaviors had changed, and all the things people told Vivi about Lewis and her. 

“I guess I don’t want to make it worse.” Arthur said with Lance agreeing to that idea. “But I need a new lead, something that can get me started on this mystery.” Arthur had the motivation to go out and find traces of where Lewis could be and he wasn’t going to rest until he was found. 

“Arthur, just leave it behind.” Lance said, doubting his claims. 

“I’m not going to.” Arthur said as he thought where he would go for a good start on his investigation. 

“I don’t know about you, but whatever happened in that cave, got you like this.” Lance said as he put away the wrench. 

“Cave.” Arthur whispered. “That’s it, the cave.” He then paced back and forth, thinking about it.

“No, no, no, no!” Lance said, regretting what he had said before. “You are not going into that cave!”

“Why not!?” Arthur asked, angrily. 

“Because that place was dangerous from the start!” Lance shouted back, making an argument. “Do you want to die there!?” 

“Of course not, but that’s where I saw Lewis last.” Arthur was getting more frustrated than happy, knowing more about the cave. “Please uncle.” He begged. “I’ll be safe, just let me go there again.” 

Lance took a minute to think this through. Did he want his nephew to go back in that cave? Was he going to make it out alive? He sighed one last time before saying “You’re an adult now. And since you're allowed to make your own decisions, I guess you can go.” 

“Thank you uncle!” Arthur said, with glee. “I won’t let you down, I promise.” He quickly went over to the front office to get his things ready. 

“Now hold on.” Lance said, stopping Arthur. “You didn’t say you were going now.” 

“I thought we were done.” Arthur replied, as he confused. 

“Not we ain’t.” Lance said with a southern accent. “We have a lot of work to do.” 

Arthur moaned and he put his vest back up and headed back to the garage where he helped with the brakes and the steering wheel. “In your opinion, do you think Vivi should come with me?” 

Lance looked at him. “Why do you ask?” 

“We were planning a drive for the night and since I’m going to the cave, should I be worried about her?” Arthur got out from the driver’s side and looked down at the ground as his hand was rubbing the back of his head. 

“It’s your choice, what do you think?” Lance said.

“I could ask her. If she doesn’t want to go, I can plan the cave trip some other day.” Arthur said, getting his thoughts through. 

“Then, there’s your plan.” Lance finally said before he stretched. 

After a couple of hours of working on the vehicles, Arthur called it a day at the shop and drove the van to Vivi’s house where he will pick her and Mystery for the drive. Lance was still in the shop, looking over at the list of cars that were fixed along with the costs of them. He then planned to stay the night at the shop instead of his house just because he also was busy. Lance went to his office and sat down on his chair, reading articles about Lewis Pepper’s disappearance. If Arthur was right, Lance thought to himself. What else has he been right about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it was too short and bland, I made this at night and felt tired.


	7. The Night Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Vivi, and Mystery go on a night drive as they planned. But things take a turn as the van brakes down.

Night. One of the most peaceful times of the day. How it darkens the sky while stars light up, shining like the moon which was almost full. It’s a shame that people sleep on this time of the day, but others like to stay up to it, making plans and such. This is what Arthur and Vivi had done tonight. 

Back at Vivi’s house, she was in her room doing whatever she could to wait for Arthur to pick her and Mystery up. Vivi was really happy about the night trip that she was going to and seeing the outdoors, how chilly it is. As a kid, her grandmother takes Vivi outside to lie on the ground and stargaze. It was very special to Vivi, but things had changed since then. Grandma Yukino was getting old and weak, which meant that she couldn’t do things with Vivi anymore. It disappointed Vivi a lot, but it was life and she can’t control it. 

She walks around the room, looking out the window a couple times to see if Arthur was here yet. Mystery was on her bed, watching her walk around in a circle, pacing, being impatient. He had times where Vivi would do something productive like studying for college or cooking. Now, Vivi wasted her time with just doing nothing and thinking about who Lewis was. He was worried about what that pink flash he saw in the cave did to her. It took her memories away and gave her headaches 24/7. Arthur on the other hand had it the worse, losing memories and an arm while being possessed by a spirit who made him kill Lewis. Mystery had thought of all the things he could have done to change the past like not going to the cave at all or revealing his identity sooner so Lewis would be alive, but Arthur could have lost that arm still. What bugs him the most is the fear of the woman who was after him for centuries. Grandma Yukino said that she had a track of his location where he used his form, but would it be strong enough to lead him here? 

As Mystery was thinking all of this, Vivi saw how stressed he looked. “Are you ok Mystery?” She asked, calmly. Mystery looked up at her, not knowing that he was expressing his emotions. He let out a soft whine as Vivi rubbed behind his right ear. “It’s ok, Arthur will be here soon.” Vivi stopped rubbing him and looked out the window to see a van driving up at her driveway. To her excitement, she goes to her closet to take off her sunflower shirt and put on the blue sweater she wanted to wear tonight. She tells Mystery to follow her and he jumps down the bed and walks behind her. 

She goes downstairs to see her mom looking for something in the drawer. Her mom looks up at Vivi in silence. Staring at the blue sweater she saw earlier in the day. But she doesn’t say anything. 

Vivi knows what she was thinking. The sweater was unusual for the desert, but she did love it. “It’s cold out.” Vivi says, giving Mrs. Yukino her only response. 

Her mom sighs defeatly. “Go ahead.” She silently said as Vivi walked behind her and opened the front door. At first Vivi thought that she would have a curfew, but her mom didn’t say anything so she decided to come back home late.   
Outside of the house, Vivi closes the door with Mystery beside her and walks to the van where Arthur was at the driver seat, waving at her. She goes over to the passenger’s side and opens the door so Mystery can get in first and she can last. Mystery sits between Arthur who petted his head and Vivi who gets in and closes the door. “Are you ready for the night drive?” Vivi asked Arthur. 

He chuckles. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” Arthur backs out of the driveway and goes back onto the road. His eyes are on the road, both eyes on the steering wheel, foot on the petal. Vivi looked out the window in silence.

She didn’t know what to say since the talk at the diner, but Arthur helped start the conversation. “So did Mystery here eat the burger?” He said, looking at the dog who looked back at him, tilting his head.

Vivi looked at him too, with a smirk. “Sure did. I saw him eat the entire thing in seconds.” Arthur scoffed and looked back at the road. Mystery smiled shyly, knowing that he indeed ate the chicken bacon burger. “Isn’t that right Mystery?” She said in baby talk, rubbing his belly. Mystery rolled onto his back, letting Vivi rub it more. Arthur didn’t want to look at it so he kept his eyes on the road still. 

It had been five minutes since they were driving and Vivi wanted music. She turned on the radio, which played jazz. “Can you change the channel?” Arthur asked. Vivi turned the knob on the radio and found a station that was called the news station. Arthur looked at her in dead silence. “Seriously?” He said, as Vivi snorted. 

“Let’s just hear the news for a couple of minutes and I can change it back.” Vivi said. 

The news contained a section of what was happening with the economy and how their president was going to fix it. The second broadcast was a woman who was arrested with attempted robbery and fleeing from police in Georgia. The last broadcast was the one Arthur regretted hearing. “In other events, police are still trying to find the men who killed a loving couple in SmallTown Nebraska.” The voice was a woman who was in her thirties and knew the job well for her to speak perfectly. “The couple were found dead in their bathroom, shot to death multiple times. The window was also found open indicating that the killer went through the window or their only child who escaped and was saved by his uncle. Names will not be revealed for now until the killers are found and arrested.” Arthur gripped hard on the steering wheel, breathing deeply as if he was in fear. He was getting more shaking in his legs. 

“Turn it off please.” Arthur begged. Vivi didn’t know what was wrong with him, but if it was getting him this anxious, then she did what he told her. Vivi switched the radio to a classical station. “Thank you.” He said. The truth was that he nor Lance told Vivi the story of his parents death. He lied by saying that he was staying with his uncles for a couple of years until things got fixed with his parent’s relationship. He didn’t want to tell Vivi the truth because of the shame he brought with him. 

“Are you okay?” Vivi worriedly asked. Arthur didn’t feel okay when the reporter described the scene of his parent’s death.

“Yeah.” He lied. “Murders just make me feel uncomfortable.” Arthur had hard times when he would think back to the scene. Where he ran off into the woods as he heard shots coming from his house. It was like a nightmare, but in reality. 

“I understand.” Vivi said, being sympathetic. She then went back to the window where she found that the road Arthur is driving had a whole field of dead trees on both sides of the road. “I don’t remember this area.” She said, unfamiliar with where she was at right now. “Where are we going?” 

“The cave.” He said without hesitation. Vivi looked at him in surprise. 

“What? Arthur, I thought we were just driving around!” Vivi said in an angry tone. 

“We are. I just wanted to stop by the cave for a few minutes and we can drive some more.” Arthur said, checking the gas meter to see how much gas there is left in the van. Even if Vivi couldn’t remember the cave she went to, she knew that it was a bad place. Mystery agreed to by whining.

“See, even Mystery doesn’t like that idea.” Vivi said, rubbing Mystery’s head again to calm him down. 

“Don’t worry, you two can stay here while I go check out the cave.” Arthur said. He thought that the cave he was at would help him find clues to where Lewis might be. 

“If it’s this Lewis thing again, then we need to have a talk.” Vivi said, being serious. Vivi had enough with Arthur spending a whole year with finding Lewis who might not be in the state of Texas. 

“I’m fine Vivi, just let me go to the cave and I’ll take a break for a week from the case.” Arthur lied again. Vivi gave Arthur a dirty look as he said those words. “Don’t worry, things will be found as soon as I solve this case.” 

Vivi huffed as she leaned back onto the seat. Mystery who was laying his head on the seat, had his ears drooped down. He was worried of Arthur’s behavior and mental health like Vivi and Lance. If Mystery had the chance to talk and tell them the truth, would the future be better or worse for them? He wasn’t going to risk it. They all went silent except for the sound of violins on the radio. The violins made a high tune sound which got Vivi relaxed by them. “You know, I used to play the violin back in 5th grade when I was in band class.” 

“Really?” Arthur said, interested. “I didn’t know you played an instrument.” 

Vivi laughs. “Yeah, I still have it in the basement.” She crossed her arms and laid back on the seat again, looking at the ceiling of the van. “I don’t know if I would play it again.” 

“You could just sell it.” Arthur said, giving Vivi an option. 

“No way!” She exaggerated. “That violin is more important than money.” 

They had a few talks along the drive about instruments and machines. But before they could talk anymore, the radio started to make pink static. Pink electricity shooting out and around it. All three of them were looking at it weirdly and two of them looked at Arthur. “Huh.” Arthur said, weirded out. “I never had that happen.” Then the speedometers behind the steering wheel also shot out pink electricity, making the pointer spin around fast and then stopping at zero. The van had stopped and Arthur hit the dashboard, seeing if it would work again. It didn’t. “What in the world just happened?” He asked. 

“Did it die?” Vivi asked. 

“No, I just checked it this morning and it was just fine.” Arthur replied. They were now stranded in the middle of dead trees. But Vivi looked over to Arthur’s side to find an abandoned mansion. 

“Look over there.” She said, pointing her finger. 

Arthur turned to his side to find the mansion. The mansion was damaged, old, and dirty. It’s dark gray walls looked like it would crumpled to dust and the windows were broken and dusty. The roof was missing some pieces and the it’s frontyard looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years as vines crawled around the metal fence. “I don’t know Vivi. It looks creepy and I don’t think there's anyone inside.”

“One way to find out.” Vivi said as she took off her seatbelt and opened the door on her side. She then got out and Mystery, who didn’t trust the mansion, followed her for safety. 

“Vivi no.” Arthur said. He took off his seatbelt and got out of the van too, following her behind. “Think about this, we are going to a place that could be haunted by ghosts or some demon that was summoned by a family that lived here long ago.” 

“Then we got a ghost hunt to do then.” Vivi said as she walked up the steps. Arthur wanted to stay at the van, but Mystery was behind him, growing at him to get him up the steps. He knew that Mystery wasn’t going to hesitate to let Vivi go alone, even if he had to be a little dog with little strength. He needed Arthur to go with her, but what if he was right? He was possessed once, so could it happen a second time? One way to find out as Vivi said.


	8. The Mansion Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Vivi, and Mystery go inside the mansion to find out they have more problems than they expected.

Vivi went to the huge wooden double doors that had metal knobs the size of a person’s hand. She went over to the right side of the knob to open it, the door opened itself. Arthur was creeped out by it and was quivering along with Mystery. Yet all three of them went inside the mansion to see how dark it was. “Maybe we should go back outside.” Arthur suggested. As he turned around, the doors shutted and what sounded like a bolt locking. The room was pure black and none of them brought a flashlight for them. “Just great, we are now locked inside a haunted mansion with no light.” Arthur complained.

“Then help me find a lightswitch.” Vivi said, shuffling around in the dark, her hands rubbing on the walls as if she was blind. 

“Vivi, this is a house that doesn’t use light switches, how do you expect to find one here?” Arthur said. But then, something strange and spectacular happened. A pink flame floated across the room, right in front of Vivi, Arthur and Mystery. “What is that?” Arthur said, scared.

“Excuse me.” Vivi said, thinking that there was someone holding that flame. “Can you help us with a few things? Starting with a lightswitch.” The flame had disappeared and multiple of them were found everywhere in the room, lighting up the place. A chandelier was filled with candles that were lit above them. Torches on the walls were lit up by the pink fire. The room itself was like a royal dining hall. It’s walls had a vertical striped pattern of purple and pink while the floors were wooden and clean, it’s carpets had a shade of dark purple. The stairs in the middle of the room were huge and fancy as it’s railings were curvy. The paintings on the walls had looked like they were made centuries ago. Vivi was amazed by what had just happened as her eyes started to sparkle. Arthur and Mystery on the other hand were freaking out and wanting to know who was doing all of this. “Look at this place! It’s awesome!” Vivi shouted, her echo reaching to the other side of the room. 

“What in the world?” Arthur told himself. “We need to get out of here Vivi.” He demanded. Vivi knew that she wasn’t going to leave until she got to see the rest of the mansion. All of the sudden, these tiny pink ghosts came out of the doors and walls, singing like a choir. “What are thoses!?” Arthur shouted in fear. 

“They look like ghosts.” Vivi explained. “But they look different than the ones that I know.” These ghosts had formed themselves around the gang. Their voices were like angels in the skies. “See, they're harmless.” Vivi said, examining them. That’s what she thought of at first, but then the pink ghosts had turned vicious and showed teeth and arms that had claws. Their eyes looked angry, but yet in an evil way. Arthur, Vivi and Mystery knew that they were in danger and they ran down the hallway. As they were running, Vivi looked down at the end of the hallway to find two directions. In her mind, the only way to help explore the mansion more is to, “split up!” She says. 

Arthur, who was behind her, didn’t like the idea of splitting up. “Are you crazy!?” He shouted. 

“It’ll help us explore the mansion better!” Vivi shouted back. “You take left and me and Mystery are going right.” Arthur wanted to decline the idea more, but he didn’t have a choice because as soon as Vivi and Mystery went right, the door behind them shutted. He had no choice but to go left and shut the door behind him. 

The room he went was another hallway, but this one was very broken and older than the one he ran. The floor was wooden and had missing pieces with nails sticking out of them. The wallpaper was ripped up by something and the ceiling had cracks with broken light bulbs. Arthur tiptoed forward to the door that was on the other side of the hall, making the floor creak each step he took. What Arthur didn’t like the most was how silent the room was besides the creaks. As if he was playing the quiet game with his uncle. His breathing became quick, but silent. His mechanical arm was having issues because when he made the arm, he made programs to his nervous system, making reflexes to the metal arm. 

Suddenly, the walls were shocked as if there was an earthquake. He was still as if he was frozen, hoping that the shaking stopped. And it did. He sighed in relief, but made that mistake when the floor beneath him broke and he was falling to the ground. He screamed in fear as he was falling to the ground. 

Vivi and Mystery walked into a room which was the kitchen. It had a refrigerator, a sink, cabinets, and many other things she would have in her kitchen. “Are you seeing this Mystery?” She asked the dog. Mystery barks as a yes. “I’m a little hungry and I know that you are too, do you want to eat?” She didn’t have the time to think that she was in the kitchen of a haunted mansion. Mystery pants in excitement and Vivi was excited too. She opens the fridge where she thought she hit the jackpot. “Wow! Whoever lives here, has a ton of food in the fridge.” Mystery went over to check it out, licking his lips in response to the food. She then grabs out what looks like ham and then she has an idea. “I’m going to make a sandwich.” 

Arthur had landed in somewhere that was dark, creepy, and that showed a coffin at the end of the room. What was this place? Arthur asked himself. The cellar? The basement? Or a secret entrance to hell? He wasn’t pretty sure, but he knew that the coffin on the other side had cracked open. In the coffin, a ghost had come out of the coffin. This ghost looked like half skeleton and half man. The ghost had a floating skull which had no lower jaw and a suit which was black with a purple tie. His hands looked like he was wearing gloves but permanent. His golden heart that was on his chest had beating in a rhythmic pattern like a normal heart would. The eyes in the skull had turned towards Arthur in anger. He walked down from his coffin and looked at his heartbeat, then back at him. His anger had made him stronger than ever. He whips his skull as magenta flames, coming from his head engulfed his top head, making it a hairstyle. He points his finger at Arthur. “You.” The ghost said in a deep angered tone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, what's going to happen next?


	9. The Mansion Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get crazy for Arthur when he is getting chased by a ghost.

Arthur looked at the ghost. He stood up and looked around before pointing his metal arm at himself. “Me?” He asked the ghost. The ghost was enraged, as he floated in the air. He then charged for Arthur as he turned the other way to run as fast as he could. Arthur needed to escape the mansion, but he had to find Vivi and Mystery first. At the end of the path, he finds wooden stairs that lead upwards. Arthur hurried up the stairs as the ghost was following him behind. As he makes it to the door, he closes it behind him and locks it, before running towards what seemed like the kitchen. He rushes in to find Vivi and Mystery making a sandwich. “What are you two doing!?” He said, scared and confused. 

“We’re making a sandwich. What else do you think we are doing?” Vivi says as she puts the cheese on the sandwich. 

“Running for your lives.” Arthur said. The door behind Arthur had a loug band with sounds of the door breaking. “We need to go now!” He said as he grabbed Vivi by her arm and ran towards the other room. 

“The sandwich!” Vivi said, looking back at it as it just stood there on the kitchen counter. 

“Our lives are important!” Arthur shouted in fear as he, Vivi and Mystery who was also sad about the sandwich, made it back to the hall. Back in the kitchen, the door had broken open, showing an angry ghost who still charged at the three. 

Back at the front entrance, They all were now cornered by the ghost. He looked directly at Arthur as his fist went up in the air to attack him. But Vivi got in his way to protect him. “Stop!” She demanded. The ghost then put his hand down and looked at Vivi. 

“Vivi.” He calmly whispered. To her, she was surprised that the ghost knew her name, but he could have heard him when Arthur said it out loud. The ghost was now sorrowful, unhappy that Vivi was in front of him for some reason. 

“You know my name?” She asked. Then, the ghost’s heart had floated off of his chest and to Vivi. She didn’t know what to do except pull out her hands to grab the locket. Arthur didn’t know what was going on, but he heard barking behind him. He turned around to find Mystery and the front door opened. It was time to go, he thought to himself. So before Vivi could get the locket, Arthur grabbed her hand again and they went out the door. The locket dropped to the ground, now grey and cracked. The ghost had filled himself with anger so much that the whole mansion exploded with magenta flames.

“Get in now!” Arthur said, after he got in the driver’s seat. Vivi let Mystery in quick and then herself. For some reason, the van started to work again and had no time to think about it because Arthur stepped on the accelerator pedal as hard as he can, quickly driving away from the mansion. “That was a close one.” He said, relieved that they all escaped. 

Vivi had multiple thoughts in her head. One that included a question that she needed to find out. “How did he know my name?” She asked Arthur. Arthur didn’t know too, but he wasn’t going to go back to find out the answer. Right now, they are going to take a break to calm things down and go to the cave as they planned.

At the mansion, Lewis had looked out the window from the top floor, looking at the tracks the van made. He then looked at his locket which was broken and gray. “I told you Jax, he’s not innocent.” He said as Jax appeared out of nowhere. 

“But sir, he was scared. If you let him have a chance-” Jax said before he was interrupted by Lewis. 

“I’m not giving that murderer any chances!” Lewis said in anger. He felt like Arthur should have a taste of his own medicine by killing him too, and he knows where they are going because the sparks he made in the van, were his deadbeats who listen in their conversation. “Let’s go.” He said to Jax who was next to him.

“Where are we going?” Jax questioned. 

“Back to where it all started.” Lewis finally answers before he and Jax vanish out of thin air, leaving the mansion empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was short, I wanted it to be simple.


	10. Recaping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur takes a break from driving while Vivi and Mystery sleep.

A few miles from where they had escaped the mansion, Arthur decided to go to the side of the road where they can take a break and relax for a few moments before Arthur gets to the cave. He stopped the car and rubbed his eyes that had bags underneath them. “I’m going to stop so we can get some rest before we head out to the cave.” Arthur said. 

Vivi who also had bags under her eyes was yawning. “That’s fine, but I’m going to sleep. I’m really tired.” She climbs to the back of the van where she gets out a pillow and a blanket for her. “Come on Mystery.” She told Mystery. He hops to the back and lays down next to her. Arthur on the other hand didn’t have time to rest. So he opened the driver’s door and went outside where he goes to the back of the van to get his laptop and opens it. “How long are you going to be done?” She asked. 

“Not sure, probably until I get all the answers I need.” Arthur says as he logs in and goes through his files which had notes on Lewis’s disappearance. 

“Just wake me until you bring me and Mystery home.” She said before going to sleep. 

Arthur chuckles a little. “I will.” 

It wasn’t before long that Vivi had fallen asleep with Mystery. Arthur knew that too and he wasn’t going to rest until he got to the cave. But yet, something is keeping him still. Like as if there was a person telling him “no, don’t go into the cave”. Could it be Lance or Vivi saying that? Or maybe his conscience, trying to keep him safe from the dangers. But he did survive a ghost attack and lost an arm, so what else does fate have in store for him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shortest chapter of all, I'm proud of it.


	11. Shiromori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiromori and Lewis have a face off.

A couple of miles from the van, was the cave that started it all as Lewis said. The outside of it was very abandoned and didn’t look like it was a public area to the people. The exterior of it looked like a skull that’s screaming. Inside of it thought looked long and dark, how it might go on forever. The sign outside of the creepy cave was demolished, broken down as if someone wrecked it on purpose. The sign reads “DANGER” with a skull and crossbones like a pirate ship’s flag has. If a person would drive by the cave, their only two choices would be to go in or to not. 

The cave was silent except for the wind, pushing towards the right and the water’s drips that came from the ceiling of the cave. But it wasn’t empty. A strange creature had crawled out of the cave, a shape that looked like an arm. This arm was green as if it was rotten. The eye on the palm was pitch black except for the green pupil it had. At the end of the arm, it looked like it was torn off by teeth as if it was a bear attack, but there were no bears. The arm had a wristband which was soft and stretchy. The arm had made it out the cave, looking outside. It’s expression was hatred and anger, as if it was looking for someone to harm. 

Then, something popped out of the ground. It was a small bonsai tree with white leaves and pink flowers that looked like blossoms. This bonsai tree had somehow grown in the ground with no dirt nor grass, just hard rock. The arm looked at this bonsai tree in confusion, what it was doing. Then a head popped out, searching around her surroundings. She got up from the ground as she turned around to find the cave. The arm had seen this happening and to its safety, it ran back to the cave. 

This strange woman was shown as someone who was not human. Her skin was made out of wood like a tree as it had the color of blue. Her hair was white as snow and her dress. Her dress wasn’t all white, it had brown and pink. She has a giant bead necklace on her neck as for two giant bead bracelets on both of her arms which were wrapped in some kind of bandage. Her hands were as big as her head. One of her hands was holding a shear which had an eyeball that blinked. Her legs didn’t have feet. Instead, they looked like pegs from a pirate. It was impressive that she was able to walk well. Her teeth were sharp like a wolf’s and her eyes looked normal like any human, but her eye color wasn’t part of the eye color chart that people would look up online when they want to know how many eye colors there were in the world. Pink wasn’t one of them. The woman’s name was Shiromori, a creature who had lived hundreds of years. 

She walked to the cave, either looking for something or someone. Inside the cave, the place was very dark and wet with strange pink substances all over the place. She goes to the left where the cliff is at and looks over it. She then opened her right hand, letting a red blossom grow. But it didn’t grow, it died out and turned to dust. In anger, she threw the dust on the ground with a grunt. “Useless.” She said as she walked out of the cave. But something followed her, a pink mist from the pits that had the shape of a tentacle. It went out of the cave and right onto Shriomori’s shoulder. It had gotten her attention as it swirled around her. Then, it went to the ground, into the sand. She put her hand into where the mist was. In it was a gray broken locket. As she was holding it, her other hand started to create three more flowers. A purple one, a blue one, and an orange one. She used her shears to cut down the flowers, letting them fall to the ground gracefully. Then, she lifted her hand again, letting the same red blossom grow again, but brighter and stronger. Shiromori smiled insanely now that she had the blossom. But something was happening with the locket, it was shaking. Shaking so much that Shiromori had dropped it. Pink flames had gotten out of the locket, and next to Shriomori.

The flames had turned out to be Lewis who teleported from the locket. He was now full of rage as he stared at the person who tried to steal his locket. “Trying to take my locket!?” He said in anger. 

“What the-?” She said before she was interrupted by Lewis’s fist that ripped her head off of her body, letting it land and crumble to dust. Her body was turning to dust, but not crumbling like her head. Lewis grabbed the locket from her hand, breaking it to pieces. He then puts the locket on his chest. 

“Do you think that was necessary?” Jax asked. He was worried about Lewis’s anger and how much destruction he had done tonight. 

“I wasn’t going to let her steal my locket Jax.” Lewis said, aggressively. But then, Shriromori’s body was going back to her colors, and her head popped out of where the wound was when he took her head off. “How!?” He asked, shockingly. 

“You’ll understand soon enough.” Shiromori said as her arm regrew. “Ready for round two?” She said with a smirk. 

Lewis growls in madness and he throws out flames as she deflects them with her shear. Then, she looked at the red blossom that was still in her hand. She was afraid that it would die out again, so she blew it, making all the petals flying with the wind. Then she escapes by going underground, leaving a trail for Lewis, but he doesn’t follow her. “Pathetic.” He said.

“Sir, what was that?” Jax asked. 

“Not sure, but stay here for a minute.” Lewis says, looking at the locket. “How am I going to fix this?” He wanted his locket fixed badly, so he can give it to Vivi to get her memories back. Then he looks at the three flowers that Shiromori had cutted down. He finds the blue one that reminded Vivi. So he picks it up, but then finds the orange one that reminds him of Arthur and he stomps on it, flattening it. He then takes off the blue petals and he decides to put it in his locket. But it was a great idea because as he did that, the locket fixed itself. “It’s fixed?” He said in confusion.

“Those petals that you put in there must have that love power I was talking to you about.” Jax said, happily. 

“Then our work is done.” Lewis walked down the road as Jax got inside the locket. He floats to the road to where he finds out that there was a truck coming his way. The problem was that Lewis didn’t have enough time to react and the truck ran him over. The truck driver thought that he had hitted something, but then the truck itself was acting strange. The truck's colors were turning black and pink and the man had jumped out of his truck to see it transform into a ghost truck. The man screamed away as he waved his hands in the air into the desert. Lewis then teleported into the truck, knowing that he will use this to get to Arthur quickly. “Time to kill that traitor.” He said as he stepped on the pedal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The action begins in a few chapters. Maybe like one or two.


	12. The Kitsune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystery had made the biggest mistake that he had ever made.

At the van, Arthur went over all the things he made on his laptop about Lewis’ disappearance. He typed down some locations that were good hiding places that he believed Lewis could be at. Unfortunately, he checked out all those places and couldn’t find him there. But he wasn’t going to give up. Arthur took notes down, used equations, and made possibilities of what happened at the cave, one including that someone kidnapped Lewis. Yet, there was no evidence of a kidnap. At least that is what the police said when they checked out the cave. He was frustrated that he wasn’t found still, but from the crime shows that he watches, it would take some time before they get the clear story. 

He then clicked out of the Lewis flies and clicked on a file that had pictures. One that made him laugh. It was a photo from last year when he, Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery went into Pepper Paradiso to eat lunch there. His face was funny, because if he recalled, he was eating his food that was tampered with hot sauce by one of Lewis’s sisters. It was the funniest thing that had happened in that place and he kept it for good memories. 

But of course, when Arthur clicked loudly on the laptop, Mystery’s ears perked up. The sound of the clicking alerted him for some reason. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Even though Vivi’s eyes were closed, Mystery could see the pink flash in them. He growled silently, and to his reflexes, he made one mistake that Grandma Yukino knew would get him in danger. Arthur had seen it happening, Mystery was transforming. His body was growing in height as his tail splitted into at least seven of them. Fur was getting thicker as his claws got sharper. His snout went from dog to vulpine, his eyes were glowing red behind his glasses which went smaller. His collar though, stayed the same, even if Mystery’s neck was making it tighter. Mystery looked down at Arthur either in anger or frustration. Arthur didn’t know what was happening, was he dreaming? Or a nightmare? His robotic arm started to shake, malfunctioning due to Arthur’s fear overloading the system. 

Mystery looked at Vivi and then back at Arthur to only realized that he had messed up. “Oh no.” He said silently. But luckily, Arthur fainted, falling off from the van. Mystery then quickly, went back to his dog form and went over to check on Arthur. He was sleeping on the ground, covered in dirt and sand. 

Vivi had woken up from the sound of Arthur falling to the ground. “What’s going on?’ She said, as if she was drunk. Mystery looked back at her, whining. She then crawled over to where Arthur was and tried to get him to wake up. “Arthur.” She said, shaking him. “Are you ok?” 

Arthur woke up, sitting up right. “What happened?” He asked. 

“You fell on the ground.” Vivi answered. “What happened?” 

He looked at Mystery who was a dog. He didn’t know what he saw, but it wasn’t a good sign for him. “I’m not sure.” He said. He then got up. “I should check on the van before we head out.” He then grabbed his toolbox next to Vivi and went to the front of the van. Vivi went back to sleep, leaving Mystery the only one who knew the truth. 

Mystery didn’t know why he transformed. Was it because of the ghost chase or the cave? His reflexes weren’t very helpful to him since it just gets the strange woman closer to him. Then, a petal flew from inside the van. He took the petal with his paw, examining it. Mystery realized that he messed up real good. The petal came from the strange woman, AKA, Shiromori. Now he knows that she is nearby, but in which direction and how long will she find him? Things are not going to go well with him and he is now scared for his life. He can hear the voice of Shiromori, saying “You can’t run forever mutt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting to the point where I'm going to make the chapters a little bit shorter, but I'm planning to make some after the hellbent video longer.


	13. Car Chasing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis chases Arthur as things start to either unfold or began chaos.

The brakes, the tires, bolts, and many more. The things that Arthur had checked on when he was going around the van with his toolbox. He still couldn’t figure out how the van was able to shut off and back on again after they escaped the mansion. He then went underneath the van with the creeper he brought with him on the trip. Some bolts had to be tightened and the pipes needed to be checked if they were leaking. After he did all of those, he rolled out from the van, wiping the oil from his face. His clothes were covered in oil and dirt and his mechanical arm, which wasn’t malfunctioning from minutes ago, was in good condition. He got to the back of the van to put the toolbox and the creeper board away and got his rag as he wipes his face again to make sure that he gets all the oil off of him. Then, he gets in the driver’s seat. Looking over to his right, is Mystery, sitting there in fear and disappointment. Arthur had complete fear and he tried to back away, but the door was keeping him there. Mystery wasn’t focused on Arthur’s cowardness, but yet the petal that he had been scared of for minutes. The petal was from Shiromori, he knew it. It was the fact that she was closer to him and he had Vivi and Arthur by his side. What if she kills them too? He thought to himself. Pondering it over and over again with some other thoughts he had too. 

Arthur looked at Mystery in puzzlement. The petal in his paws was worrying Mystery a lot and Arthur didn’t know why. He takes a deep breath and reaches over to Mystery with his right arm. It shakes for a little bit and then it touches Mystery. He rubs Mystery’s head as he soothes to it. They were both calm now that they had each other. “I guess you’re not who I thought you were.” Arthur said before he turns the keys and drives to where he had wanted to go, the cave. 

During the drive, Mystery falls asleep, dropping the petal to the floorboard. Arthur looks at the road, yawning every minute. His plan was to go to the cave, find something there, get Vivi and Mystery home, and finally rest. Or get Vivi and Mystery home, and then go to the cave. He needed to think about that more. To his boredom, he turned the radio on which played classical music, something that can sooth him from all of the troubles that he went through. On the left of Arthur was a cliff that was at least 500 feet to the ground. The view on the other hand was gorgeous, the canyons had this shape like skyscrapers in a city. It made Arthur even more calmer. One day, he will become rich enough to live in a city where he can see the incredible places and the people, even if they are crazy or rude. 

That thought was taken away as the radio became more static. He watched it malfunctioning, pink electricity going outside of the radio. The van then shutted down again, stopping in the middle of the road. Arthur thought that the van was broken again from last time. Then, he heard a honk coming from behind him, so he looked in his rear view mirror to find a black truck that was speeding towards him. At first, Arthur thought that it was a driver who could help him out, but a little closer got him panicking. The truck was in pink flames which was never a good sign and the driver was the ghost that he had been chased by last time. He turned the key as quickly as he could, but it didn’t work. He tried and tried again, but the van wasn’t starting. He pounded the dashboard so hard that the pink electricity went up his prosthetic arm, shocking it and himself. He then went unconsince for a few seconds until he woke up with his prosthetic arm not working again. But yet, the van turned on and Arthur quickly stepped on the brakes. Mystery, who woke up, didn’t know what was going on until he looked back to see the truck that Arthur was trying to escape. At that moment, Mystery was getting scared too. 

In the truck, Lewis was going after Arthur, making sure that he would pay for his death. He opened the locket from his chest only to find out that the petals he had put in there had turned into ashes. The truck was going at 70 miles per hour, the same speed with Arthur’s van. As he was driving, Jax got out of the locket again, seeing the chaos that was happening. “Sir? What are you doing?” He asked. 

“I have been waiting for this moment Jax.” He said thrilly. “This is where Arthur suffers for his crimes.” The truck gets closer to the van, but not too close. 

“What about Vivi?” Jax says worrying. “She’s in that van too.” Jax tried many ways to keep Lewis from hurting the kid, but his anger was keeping him focused. 

“I’ll make sure she’s safe.” Lewis said before honking the truck. 

At the van, Arthur had pressed the pedal really hard as the van kept speeding up. “Oh crap!” He shouts in cowardness. Vivi woke up to whatever sound woke up her first. She was about to speak, but a metal baseball bat from the top shelf had landed on her head, knocking her out. Arthur looked back at the van to find her on the floor with the bat next to her. “Vivi!” He shouted. Luckily, right in front of the van was a tunnel. Arthur hoped that the truck that was chasing him couldn’t fit through. So as soon as he went out of the tunnel, he looked back to find nothing. “Phew.” He said, relieved that he was safe. That wasn’t the case as soon as the tunnel exploded and the truck was still chasing him. “Oh come on!” Arthur screamed. 

There was one more person who had joined in the chase. Shiromori had found the van that Mystery was in and she jumped right in front of it, landing on the hood of the car. “Hello boys!” She said insanely. Arthur and Mystery were shocked to see her right in front of their view as she broke the window with her shear. She then goes for Mystery, missing him and stabbing the seat. Mystery looks at the shear’s eye, then at the cut that it made on his face that was bleeding. 

Before Shriomori could do any more damage, the van hit a pot on the road and she jumped out of the van only to be run over by Lewis’s truck. “What was that?” Lewis asked as he looked out the window on his side. He then lost his patience and decided to throw a fireball at the van. The fireball hitted the back right tire of the van as it spun out of control.

Arthur couldn’t control the van anymore and they were driving towards a sign that said dead end. As he hit the sign, they went down hill, where the workshop, Kingsmen's Mechanics was at. Mystery climbed to the back of the van as Arthur was ready for impact. The van hit the side of the building, making collateral damage on the van. 

It wasn’t till a few seconds later Arthur realized that someone was grabbing him from his orange vest that was all torn up. He looked up to see the ghost that was chasing him the whole time. “Oh God!” He screamed before the ghost threw him in the back of the truck, falling in a dark space. 

While that was happening, Mystery was near Vivi who was on the ground. He tried to get her awake by tugging on her sweater. Shiromori was right in front of them, looking at Mystery mostly. “I told you mutt. I will always find you.” She said in a grinny tone. Shiromori charged at him with her shears but was saved by Vivi who hitted her with the metal baseball bat. 

“Stay away from my dog!” She angrily said. Shiromori looked at Vivi in realization that she looked familiar to someone a long time ago. 

“It can’t be.” Shiromori said, thunderstruck. She looked down at Mystery. “You stayed with her!?” Mystery shrugged. Then, she had her shears transformed. They were now bigger, sharper, and scarier to Vivi and Mystery. Her eyes had turned red in anger. She lunges at Vivi as she defends herself with the bat. Despite having a metal baseball bat, it wasn’t strong enough against a pair of shears. The bat went into the air as Vivi landed on the ground, defeated. The bat rolled towards Mystery. He looks at the bat and then back to Shiromori who had her shears pointed at Vivi, ready to stab her to death. Mystery wasn’t going to allow it. It was his problem from the start and he was the one who was going to solve it. So he growled in anger as his eyes turned red. Mystery had one chance at this. A chance that could change their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So close till I start being creative with the plotline.


	14. Interupted Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is before the van crashes, but this is in Lance's POV.

Before any of the chaos happened, Lance was still in the workshop. He was checking the list of the cars he and Arthur had fixed from this month. Most of the people had to pay a higher price since the total of their damage was greater than normal. Then, there are some who just needed a checkup that included tire and brake checks. Lance had calculated the total cost from all of the vehicles to be $500,000. “Boy, that’s a lot of money.” He said to himself, amazed by the costs. He really wanted to keep the money, but he had to give some of it away as taxes and deductibles. 

After a long day of work, he decided to stay at the shop so he can do some of his paperwork. The paperwork included the taxes he had to pay, letters that came from the customers on their information, and other things that he couldn’t explain in words. As he was shuffling through it, a little squeak was coming from beside him. He looked over to see a hamster cage with a hamster inside. The hamster was named Galahad, Arthur’s pet. Galahad had orange and peachy fur. His eyes were brown as it showed cuteness to himself. Unfortunately, the downside of this hamster was that it didn’t have any legs. Back when Arthur was adopting Galahad, he noticed that his legs didn’t work so he decided to build robotic wheels for him. Galahad was happy to move around the place as he picked up any screws or bolts that he would like to eat. Arthur had to make sure he wouldn’t eat any so he consisted of his diet of fresh food such as apples or carrots. Lance looked at Galahad who had his plate empty. “You’re hungry aren’t you little fella?” Lance said, making Galahad squeak in a happy tone. He went over to the fruit bowl to cut an apple using a pocket knife he had in his front pocket. After cutting the apple in 6 slices, he brings the sliced apple to Galahad whose eyes are fixated on them and puts them in his cage. “There you go little buddy.” Lance says elated. Galahad took a tiny bite out of the apple, enjoying how juicy it was. Lance chuckles. “You like that apple don’t you.” He then went back to his desk. A picture frame was on top of the desk which had gotten Lance’s attention. The picture was Arthur as a baby with his parents who were dead. Lance had felt sadness and anger since the day they heard about their death. It wasn’t right for their killer or killers to get away with it for years, even with Arthur still grieving over it. He might have lost his brother, but he wasn’t going to lose a nephew too. 

An hour later, Lance fell asleep on his desk. Galahad was sleeping too, but with his wheels, he slept face first to the ground. What could Lance be dreaming? Planning to retire and live in a beach house in California? Traveling around with his nephew? Or maybe it was nightmares. One that told a story of the death of his nephew? It wasn’t clear enough after a crash went to the side of the shop. Lance jumped out of his chair with Galahad screeching in fear. “What was that?’ Lance moanily said as he got up. From the sound of the crash, his first thought was a robbery attempt at his garage. But then there was screaming coming from outside. Lance took a second to realize the screaming came from his nephew. It seems like he is at the shop, but in danger. Lance wasn’t going to let Arthur’s attacker kill him. Under his desk, was a shotgun that was loaded. He takes the shotgun and cocks it. As he was walking towards the front entrance, he heard more screaming, but in an angry tone. Then hears a voice saying to stay away from a dog. He knew that voice, it was Vivi, Arthur’s friend. What was she doing to her and who was going to harm her dog, Mystery? Lance had hesitated to go out, just because he didn’t know what to expect, but this was for his nephew and his friend’s life. He got out with his shotgun, jaw dropped to the floor after taking a few seconds at what he was looking at. “What the hell?” He said speechless.


	15. Two Rights Equals One Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finally gets the truth he has been waiting for.

Arthur got up. He could see darkness all around him. There was no light to be found besides the static electricity on his robotic arm that didn’t move still. He looks around to find a glowing object, floating in the air. It was the golden heart the ghost had and Arthur wanted to grab it. As he walked closer to it, the heart beated. It was going at a slow pace, but then it beated quickly. The beating heart was going at a normal heart rate, then faster. At that time, Arthur went back, scared of what was happening to the heart. Then, the darkness was gone. Arthur looked around to find out that he was already in the cave that he was planning to go. But right in front of him was the ghost who blocked the exit of the cave. “Oh crap!” Arthur frighteningly said. He ran the other way around, but something was off. Why was there a red carpet? It didn’t make any sense for Arthur, but his life was on the line. He got to the point where two paths went to different directions. Arthur tried to go down the right path, but the pink ghosts that he saw from the mansion before were blocking the path. Their faces looked scary, some looked angry at him. Arthur now had no choice but to take the right path which leads to a cliff that Arthur had almost fell when he was running. 

“Lewis this is wrong!” Jax shouted angrily at Lewis. “He’s just a kid! There’s no reason to kill him!” Lewis didn’t care about what Jax said. He was focused more on getting revenge than listening to his only helper. 

“There’s no turning back Jax.” Lewis declared. His steps had moved quickly. They went to the left path to see Arthur looking over the cliff, seeing the spikes that were below. Arthur turned back at the ghost as he grabbed his white t-shirt, lifting him up towards the drop. 

Arthur was now convinced that he was going to die, but he tried his best to fight back. Surprisingly, Arthur’s robotic arm started to move again. He grabbed the ghost’s arm with his robotic arm. They then stared at each other in the eyes, with those magenta pupils the ghost had and the brown glistening eyes Arthur had. Then, the ghost changed his face to normal, showing his human form he had when he used to be alive. Arthur was shocked and confused. “Lewis?” He gasped. 

It wasn’t before long that Lewis had let go of Arthur, letting him fall to his death. His emotions erupted, the locket had cracked more than last time, turning the color from gold to black. “Save him!” Jax demanded at Lewis. “Save him now!” Lewis had no choice, but to do what Jax said. 

Was this it? Arthur asked himself. Was he going to die? He falls faster towards the spikes below him. He goes upside down, his eyes fixated on the tall sharp spike that could impale his whole body. But, he stopped falling, his right eye close to the point of the spike, but not touching. Why did he stop? Then he looks up and sees the ghost, or Lewis now that he knows holding his leg, pulling him up. What was Lewis doing? He said to himself again in delirium. Lewis had lifted Arthur up back from the spikes and onto the cliff from where he was dropped at. Arthur falls on his butt, looking up at Lewis. As that was happening, the cave had turned into the storage area of the truck. “Lewis!?” He screams. “Your….What….How?” Arthur was at a loss for words as if he couldn’t ask a simple question. 

Lewis looks down at him, muddling. He too was also at a loss for words. “Tell him Lewis.” Jax said encouragely. Lewis looks at him in silence before looking back at Arthur.

“Why did you say my name?” Lewis asked. 

“What?” Arthur said with bewilderment. 

“My name.” He said again. “You never knew it was me?” 

Arthur started to stumble on his words until he said “No, I never did.” He stood up, his right arm was grabbing onto his left one. “What happened to you?” 

That question had made Lewis feel like he was thrown in a circle of anger and puzzlement. “What happened?” He asked. “What happened!?” He said again with anger mixed to it. “You happened!” Arthur couldn’t understand why Lewis was so mad at him. 

“I-I don’t understand.” Arthur says, baffled. 

“Don’t you remember? You pushed me off that cliff!” Lewis points at the end of the storage area where there used to be a cliff.

“What are you talking about?” Arthur said. “Why would I push you?” 

“Sir, let me handle this.” Jax suggested. He goes over to Arthur, swarming around him. “Arthur, you may not know this but what Lewis is saying is true.”

“What?” 

“Do you remember why you kill him?” 

“No. I wouldn’t even harm him.” 

“I saw you do it.” Lewis said, interrupting both of them harshly. 

Jax looks back at Lewis with a glare and then at Arthur. “Are you sure you can’t remember anything?” 

“Yes.” Arthur answers quickly. He takes a moment of silence. “All this time, I spent a year looking for you.” He said, looking at Lewis. “And I find out that you’re dead and I somehow killed you.” 

“You have?” Lewis asked, gently now. 

“Yes!” Arthur blurted out. “I tried to think of many ways on how you were still out there, alive!” Lewis felt shame inside of him. Did Arthur really waste a whole year for nothing except danger? “And I’m not the only one. The whole town used to search for you, but they gave up, saying that you just left. My uncle and Vivi told me to stop-” He stopped mid sentence to remember the fact that Vivi and Mystery were still out there with that strange creature that attacked them earlier. “Oh no, Vivi.” He said, alarmed. 

“What about her?” Lewis asked. 

“We need to save her and Mystery! They’re still out there with that woman!” He runs to the doors of the truck, opening them. Lewis and Jax follow behind him, trying to figure out what Arthur was talking about. 

Outside of the truck, Arthur had stopped, feeling frozen to what he was seeing right now. Lewis on the other hand felt anger. In front of them was Shiromori, pinning down someone who had the biggest secret of all, shears pointing right at his chest.


	16. Secrets Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get intense with Mystery and Vivi.

Vivi was on the ground, her arms defending herself from the blades of Shiromori’s shears. Shiromori was in full rage, her eyes still dark with red pupils. Her teeth had become sharp like a wild animal. She had her shears right at Vivi’s body and lifted them up to stab her to death. Fortunately, that was avoided because a large animal rammed into her. Vivi couldn’t move her body, but she saw what looked like the animal standing over her. She could see fur, which had to be the chest with a thin stomach. Looking both ways, she could also see legs that looked skinny, but strong. Claws on its feet were red and sharp. Then, the animal growled in a protective way. Vivi didn’t know what this animal was or where it came from, but something threw her off. She heard jingling coming from in front of her, which was a metal tag. It didn’t show the picture since it was turning away from her. Yet the shape of the tag and the color of the collar had made her think of one thing. “Mystery?” She said weakly. 

Mystery wasn’t a dog anymore, he showed both Vivi and Shiromori his true form. His eyes were glowing red, teeth showing how sharp they are like his claws. “Back off!” He said to Shiromori in anger. 

Shiromori didn’t move an inch. Not because she was scared, but yet knew what she had to do. “So you finally showed yourself.” She said mockingly. “I have been looking for you for centuries and I have found you.” She points her shears at Mystery’s head. “Your blood will be mine.” 

Vivi was scared. She just heard her not-so dog just talk for the first time and this crazy woman was going to kill him. The bat was just behind her, so she rolled around on her stomach and tried to crawl underneath Mystery to the bat. After a few feet, Mystery’s tails blocked her way and she couldn’t see the bat in front of her. It wasn’t long before Mystery got out of her way and charged at Shiromori. Vivi had to cover her head in case he accidently stepped on her, which he didn’t. She turns around to see Mystery tackling down Shiromori, clawing her, bitting, anything that he can to take her down. Vivi felt weak in her body, how she slowly goes towards the bat. Then, the bat was in her hand. The bat was damaged and had a dent to where the giant shears had pressed into the metal. Yet Vivi still uses the weapon. 

During the fight, Shiromori gets the upper hand. Kicking, punching, and cutting was all she did. Mystery was yelping in pain when she did all of those things. Vivi had to act quickly if Mystery was going to die. Looking back, Shiromori was really close to winning the fight by planning to slice Mystery’s head off. In distress and anger, she charges at Shiromori, screaming. Shiromori looks up to see Vivi, hitting her in the head with the bat and knocking her out. 

Vivi inhales and then exhales. “I told you to stay away from my dog.” She said. Mystery exhales too, relieved that Vivi saved her life. “You!” Vivi said, directing to Mystery. “You got some explaining to do!” She points her bat towards his snout. 

“Vivi, please calm down.” He said nervously. “I will indeed tell you everything.” He sits down, tails swaying behind him. Vivi wasn’t happy with her own dog, keeping a secret from her. 

Before he could explain, the door to the building next to them opens. They both turned to see Lance with a shotgun in his hands. “What the hell?” He said quietly. Mystery stood up again, never realizing that he was in danger when Lance pointed the shotgun at him. “Stay away from Vivi you animal!” 

Vivi knew that Lance was going to pull the trigger and she had got in front of Mystery. “Mr. Kingsmen, Don’t!” She shouted in alarm. Lance was this close to shooting Vivi in the head. 

“What are you doing!?” Lance asked, distraught. 

“You won’t believe this, but this is Mystery.” She said, pointing her hand at Mystery. 

Lance looks at the kitsune who smiles awkwardly at him. “You gotta be kidding me.” He then puts down his shotgun, wondering if he was still dreaming. Lance also saw Shiromori on the ground, still knocked out. “What’s going on?” 

“I can explain.” Mystery said. “All of this was my fault.” 

“How?” Vivi said, bluntly. 

“You see, I made a mistake long ago. One that I regretted doing for the rest of my life.” Mystery explained. Lance and Vivi were all ears to him and his story. “Back then, I was wandering around in a forest until I saw this flower. Of course, I knew what it was and what I did. My blood was on that flower and it created her.” He then pointed to Shiromori with one of his tails. 

“You made her!?” Vivi said, baffled. 

“Yes and now I had faced the consequences, because my blood was the only thing keeping her alive, she had tried to take all of my blood by cutting me. I needed to get away from her. For my and everyone else’s safety.” 

“Then why pretend to be a dog?” Lance asked. 

“My true form was like a tracking device for her. If I used it for too long, then she would find me easily.” 

“But she did.” Vivi said. “So you used it not long ago?” 

“Twice.” Mystery said, shamly. “The first one is a long story that I should tell with you and Arthur.”

“Speaking of which.” Lance interrupted. “Where is Arthur?” 

Vivi and Mystery looked at each other, then at the truck that was still there. “Oh no, Arthur!” Vivi said, in panic. “That ghost must have taken him!” 

“Ghost? What ghost?” Lance asked.

“Long story, but we need to-” Mystery was saying before all three of them were surprised when Shiromori woke up and tackled Mystery to the ground. 

“You are dead!” Shiromori said in full rage. Her shears went up to Mystery. Vivi and Lance were going to save him, but she whacked them with vines that had sprung from the ground. “It’s over! I win!” She said insanely. With Vivi and Lance out of the fight, Mystery had the odds against him. But before Shiromori could kill him, a fireball hitted her. Leaving a hole on her chest. “What?” She said, crumpling again into ash. Mystery got Shiromori off of him, shaking all the dust off of him. Then looks over to see an angry ghost and a frightened boy.


	17. The Truth Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mystery and Lewis have issues with each other as Arthur still has that fear of the kitsune.

Mystery had no words to say, speechless as he would describe it. This ghost had just saved his life who was chasing him, Vivi, and Arthur earlier. Beside him was Arthur, shaking in fear yet still. He was relieved that Arthur was alive, but he had more problems to face. Like the fact that this ghost was walking towards Vivi who was still on the ground, in worriedness. Mystery didn’t know who he was and needed to act now by blocking his way to Vivi. “Who are you?” Mystery said, demandly. 

“Let me see Vivi.” The ghost bitterly says. Mystery doesn’t move, protecting Vivi. 

“Tell me who you are.” Mystery moved towards the ghost, making him back up. 

“Why should I tell you?” The ghost said, outraged. Instead of Mystery answering to his question, he pounces on him, snarling as he shows the ghost his teeth. The ghost tries to defend himself, but it was useless against a strong, ancient kitsune who had fought many things in the past. “Get off of me!” He screamed. 

“If you don’t tell me in ten seconds, I will tear your soul in half and leave nothing behind!” Mystery roared at him. The ghost didn’t want to die a second time, but he doesn’t say anything. “Ten!” Mystery said, starting the countdown. “Nine!” The deranged ghost still doesn’t answer and he still needed to fix things with Vivi. 

Arthur watched this going down right in front of him. He didn’t want too, but he had questions that needed to be answered. “Lewis!” Arthur screamed. Mystery looked up at Arthur, noticing that he was still there. “His name is Lewis Pepper.” Mystery’s eyes widen as he said that name. 

“Lewis?” He asked the ghost. Lewis nods as Mystery gets off of him. “It’s actually you.” He said in amazement. 

Lewis took his time examining the kitsune, from the fur, the glasses, and the collar that had the metal tag, Lewis knew who this kitsune was and he was very shocked about it. “Mystery?”

Mystery sighs. “Yes, I guess I have some more explaining to do.” But before he could, Lewis ignored him and went to Vivi.

“Vivi?” He said, trying to wake her up. “What happened to her?” He asked Mystery. 

“That woman that you just took down, she knocked her out.” Mystery said. 

Arthur was also worried about Vivi, but he saw his uncle. He wanted to see him, but Mystery was in the way, his fear rising because of him. “So your real?” He asked, nervously. 

Mystery looks at Arthur in silence. Of course, Arthur was the victim here since he had it the worse with the cave and everything else that happened tonight. He tried to get closer to him, but Arthur moved back. “Arthur, don’t be afraid of me.” Mystery said, calmly. “I won’t hurt you, but we need to talk.” 

“Talk?” Arthur asked. “Talk about what?” 

“The truth.” Mystery gets closer to Arthur and again, Arthur moves back. “This is about both of you.” He said to Lewis too who had his hand lifting up Vivi’s head. 

“Is she ok Lewis?” Arthur asked, worried about her. 

Lewis felt his anger rising as he remembered why he was here in the first place. “Don’t come closer, murderer.” He said in a nasty tone. 

“He’s not a murderer, Lewis.” Mystery said back. “Well, kinda but not.” 

Arthur felt his stomach drop. “What do you mean kinda? Did I actually kill him?” 

Mystery would just be blunt about it, but he also had to think what Arthur would think of it. “Do you recall what happened at the cave last year?” 

“I mean, maybe.” Arthur replied. “All I can remember is that I went to the left path with Lewis and then everything was a blur.” Mystery really didn’t know how to put it in words. The poor boy was going through a lot right now and the last thing he is going to get is disaster. 

“Arthur, there was a reason why you couldn’t remember most of it.” Mystery sat down again. “I’m going to say this once and I know that you aren’t going to be happy about it.” Arthur nods as Mystery takes a deep breath. “You were possessed.” 

“What?” Arthur said, unsettled. 

“You were possessed by a spirit that controlled your body. That is why Lewis died on that night.” 

Lewis turned his floating skull at Mystery. “That can’t be true.” He denies. “I saw his face. He did it on purpose.” 

“You didn’t have enough time to look at him clearly, Lewis.” Mystery said. Arthur looks down at his hands, knowing from Lewis’s words and Mystery’s, he pushed him off the cliff. “Arthur, I need you to stay calm.” Arthur didn’t want to calm down. He was scared, ashamed, and sad that he killed his best friend. 

“I killed him.” He said, repeating it over and over. 

“Arthur, listen to me. It wasn’t your fault.” Mystery knew that this was going to happen and he wanted to comfort Arthur. He walks towards Arthur, his snout right at his forehead. For some reason, Arthur shoved Mystery away as he flinched. 

“Stay away from me!” He said, livid. Arthur walked backwards until he accidentally tripped over a rock, falling down on his back. Arthur felt pain from when he tripped, not from the fall, but from the sharp stab on his right hand. He looks at it and realizes that it was a piece of glass from a window that had been stabbed through his palm. He forcefully takes the piece out of the new fresh wound as blood comes out, dripping on the ground.

Something got Mystery’s attention. He sniffed the blood, a smell that wasn’t normal and one that he knew. “Impossible.” He silently said. 

“What?” Arthur asked pouting. 

“Your blood…..oh no” He said worriedly. Behind him, there was some sort of rumbling. Then it seems like a path underground was going towards Mystery and Arthur. Then, Shiromori who had healed herself, pops out of the ground behind Arthur as she grabs him. Mystery tries to save Arthur, but Shiromori’s vines have gotten up from the ground, lassoing him. “Let him go!” He said furiously. 

“I can’t believe it.” Shiromori said, amazed. “Your blood is perfect.” She then grabs his right hand and licks it. “You will be good for charging my power.” 

“What!?” Arthur said, scared. Lewis had seen this and he either had a choice to save him or not. But from the screams from both Arthur and Mystery. He needed to save him, but it was too late since Shiromori took Arthur underground and into the distance. 

“No!” Mystery yells, struggling to get the vines off of him. “Lewis! Help me!” Lewis went over to rip the vines off of him.

“Why did she take Arthur?” Lewis asked. 

“Because of his blood. I don’t know how it changed, but we need to save him before she drains all the blood out of him.” Mystery said who was now pissed as ever. To make matters worse, Vivi and Lance started to wake up, getting a feeling of pain and confusion. 

“What’s going on?” Vivi asked before moaning.


	18. Bad to Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated between Lewis and Mystery during the drive. Then, Grandma Yukino has some issues with Mystery, but she has a plan.

Vivi woke up in front of the ghost who came close to her. “Oh my god!” She screamed, scooting backwards away from him. The ghost felt ashamed for doing that and quickly apologized. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you Vivi.” He said.

Vivi took her time to look at the worried ghost and realized that it was the same one from the mansion. “It’s you.” She silently said. “You’re the ghost from the mansion.” She stood up, staring at the ghost who looked shy. “How do you know my name?” She asked.

He didn’t know what to say. After all, it was him who made things worse for her and Arthur. “My name is Lewis Pepper and I-” 

“Lewis Pepper!?” She asked surprisingly.

Lewis thought that she started to remember him. “You know who I am?” He asked, curiously. 

“No, but I have a friend who knows you. He said that he had been looking for you everywhere.” Lewis’s stomach dropped because he knew who she was talking about, Arthur. “Speaking of, where did he go?” 

Lewis and Mystery looked at each other nervously. What could they say? That Arthur was taken by Shiromori who was going to use his blood as a source for her power? Both of them knew that they can’t lie, it’ll make things even worse for her and Lance who also woke up. “Lewis Pepper!?” Lance shockenly asked. 

Lewis turned to see Lance, picking up his shotgun. “Umm, Yes.” He replied. 

“My god.” Lance was frightened. “I can’t believe this. You’re dead!” 

“You know him too?” Vivi asked.

“Yes! He’s your boyfriend.” He explained. Then a conversation went on between Lance and Vivi, forgetting that Arthur is still missing. Mystery still needed to figure out what happened with Vivi’s memories, but he also had to save Arthur from Shiromori, 

“Look, I know that you need some answers, but Arthur’s life is on the line.” Mystery said, demanding that he needed them to listen. 

“What do you mean my nephew’s life is on the line!? Where is he!?” Lance asked, scared and angry. 

“I’ll tell you once we go to Vivi’s house.” Mystery said before looking at the van that was destroyed. “Oh yeah.” He says dispointly.  
“We can use my truck to get there.” Lewis said, helping out. Even if Arthur did kill him, Lewis wanted to rescue him too. “I’ll drive.” Lewis, Mystery, Vivi, and Lance got into the truck, leaving the storage tank behind them and driving to Vivi’s house. 

During the drive, Mystery told some things to all three of them. Like what happened at the cave, Shiromori kidnapped Arthur, and his past. “I know that I’ve made some mistakes, but I’m going to try to fix them.” 

“That’s horrible.” Vivi said, feeling bad for all of those things to happen. “But why would this woman take Arthur?” 

“It had to be his blood. I don’t know how it changed, but he had my blood in his system.” He explained.

“Of course.” Lance said. 

“What is it?” Vivi asked. 

“When the doctors wanted Arthur’s blood and they examined it, they said that his blood was very rare.” 

“How rare?” Mystery asked. 

“Rare as in that he might be the only person in the world who had this blood type.” Lance rubbed his face, getting the dirt out of his eyes. “It happened a couple of months ago.”

“So after the cave incident.” Mystery thought to himself. He knew this because when he amputated his arm, Arthur’s blood was normal. Did something happen that he might have missed? As he was thinking, Lance had gotten his phone out to show Vivi some of the pictures with her and Lewis. Then, it happened again. Vivi’s eyes flashed pink and her head started to hurt. Lance quickly helped Vivi and had to make sure that she was okay. Mystery was frustrated that he still didn’t get an answer from Vivi’s missing memories, but he felt a sense of fear and shame. He looks over at Lewis who is looking at the road, yet something was off. His hands were gripping onto the wheel tighter, the broken locket beating a little quicker, the reflection on the window shows his eyes looking down at the wheel as if he didn’t want to be caught. It hit Mystery right in the head. “It was you.” He said, confronting Lewis.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Lewis denies. 

“Don’t lie to me!” Mystery angrily says. “You’re the one who took away Vivi’s memories!” 

“Then hear me out.” Lewis said, trying to calm down Mystery. At the same time, Mystery, who was still in his kitsune form loomed over him, his beading red eyes were about to glow as he started to growl. 

“Tell me now!” Mystery threatens. Lance and Vivi had to back away from them in case Mystery gets more angrier. “For over a year, Vivi had been getting headaches and lost a whole bunch of memories because of you! If you don’t fix it when the sun rises, I will make sure that you are erased from existence!” 

Things had gotten heated so bad, that Jax came out of the locket. “Can we just focus on getting Arthur back, giant scary fox?” Mystery stares at Jax, calming himself. 

“I’m a kitsune and we will get Arthur back.” Mystery disgruntled. 

After a few minutes, Lewis and the others made it to Vivi’s house. The truck was parked in the driveway which Lewis was very lucky that he had not brung the storage that was attached to the truck with him. Vivi hops out of the truck, along with Mystery who transformed back into a dog. “My parents aren’t home, they went out to dinner.” Vivi said, unlocking the front door. 

“But why are we here and how will this help us save my nephew?’ Lance asked. 

“Grandma Yukino.” Mystery replied. “She knows what to do in this situation.” 

“So she knows about your secret?” Vivi asked. 

“Yes, she knew from when you adopted me.” Mystery goes upstairs, behind him was in this order: Vivi, Lance, and Lewis. They all made it to Grandma Yukino’s door, Mystery opening it. Grandma was still mediating in the same spot as before, like she stayed there the whole day. She looks at him and the others in annoyance. “I guess I have some explaining to do.” 

“Come in.” She said, bitterly. They all sat down around her as she looked at all of them before looking at Mystery. “What did you do?” 

“I might have used my true form.” He nervously said. “But I can explain why.” 

“I’m listening.” Grandma Yukino passively said. 

“So Shiromori did find me and she was going to kill Vivi so I had to act quickly. We had a talk about it with her and Lance.” She looks over at the middle aged man who waves at her as she lifts her eyebrow. “But then she was still alive and she took Arthur.” 

“Arthur? You mean Arthur Kingsmen?” She asked. 

“Yes, but there’s something I don’t understand. How did his blood turn special like mine?” 

Grandma Yukino thought that Mystery was an idiot. Of course she knew the reason and she would have thought he would know too. “You foolish mutt.” She said, angry. “Whenever a kitsune attacks a human, they leave something behind that they don’t know, their saliva.” Mystery felt great stupidity in himself. He knew where and when Arthur’s blood changed. “When you ripped off Arthur’s arm, you left saliva on his wound making his blood more like yours.” She takes her cane and stands up. “And now that Arthur has your blood, he might be dead as we speak.” 

“We don’t even know where he is.” Lance said, worried. 

“Well you might not, but I always come prepared in these situations.” She goes over to a book on a table that has the words, “Myths and Legends”. Inside the book, shows a chapter about Shiromori. 

Vivi came over to her, looking at the book. “Since when did you have that book?” 

“A long time ago dear.” She points to a paragraph. “Here, it says that Shirmori would make camps like a normal person would but underground. That’s how she came to you quickly.”

“So we got to find a camp underground?” Lewis asked.

“Yes, and it won’t be hard. Kitsunes…” She said, looking at Mystery with a dirty look. “Are good at finding camps.” 

“Then let’s get going then. I’m not going to stand here as that woman drains my nephew’s blood out of him.” Lance said with confidence. 

“I did say finding her would be easy, but not defeating her.” Grandma said. She then bends down to get a strange long box that people would use to put rifles in. She opens the box and a katana is inside the box. 

“Wow.” Vivi said, amazed by it. “What is that?” 

“It’s a katana that was used by many of our ancestors, centuries ago.” Grandma grabs the katana with both of her fragile hands and gives it to Vivi. “This katana is the only weapon that can kill her for good.” 

“Are you sure you want Vivi to use it?” Mystery asked, doubting that Vivi was going to use it.

“At least I can trust her to fix the mistakes you made mutt.” She nastly said, making Mystery feel awful. “So please Vivi, end her for good and save your friend.” 

“I will grandma.” Vivi couragly said. Then, they all left, out of her room and out the front door. If Grandma Yukino had a window that can show the driveway, she would have seen them leave, but she doesn’t. She was really irritated by Mystery’s mistakes. Mystery was irritated by Lewis taking away Vivi’s memoires. And Lewis? He used to be irritated by Arthur killing him, but for now, he just wants his best friend back.


	19. Shiromori's Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiromori tells Arthur some things that might change his whole life.

There’s a fine line between grief and survival. Grief usually includes losing those who people trust the most while survival is just basically outliving your enemies. Shiromori was in the middle of that line. She had lost the trees back in Japan centuries ago when a certain person had cut them down to stop her from getting powerful. But yet she can still have them, it would include a person’s life to be sacrificed for the greater good. Thus, making Arthur the new blood donater instead of Mystery. If she had known this from before, she could have ruled the planet by now. 

But where are they exactly? A hidden tunnel? Some magical place that had a portal as an entrance? No, it was just one of Shiromori’s camps she made underground. The place looked exotic like a greenhouse with those vines and flowers growing all around the room. In the middle of the room lies an unconscious Arthur who has his wrists tied up and hanged by the vines that grew on the ceiling. Shiromori couldn’t wait to drain the blood out of him, but could she wait so he could say his final words? Maybe, if Shiromori didn’t have a purely dark heart. She goes over to him, his head drooping down as if he was already weak. She lifts his head by pushing up his lower jaw. “Wake up.” She said, in a loving tone that is somewhat nice but not really. Arthur starts to mumble words but she couldn’t understand him. His eyes were open just a little bit, the dark bags under his eyes. Well, at least he did get some sleep, but not much. “It’s time.” She whispers in front of him. 

It took Arthur a whole minute to wake up, grunting and moaning like he was in pain. He looks straight at the woman who was holding those shears that looked very unusual to him. Arthur then looks around the room, realizing that he is located in a place full of vines that could kill him in seconds. “What is this place?” He asks, uneasy about his position. 

“Your death.” She said, sardonically. 

Arthur gave out a worried sigh. “Oh god.” He said, dreadful. 

Shiromori went over to Arthur again. This time, she dragged her finger across the side of his face, making him feel even more uncomfortable. “Oh don’t be like that.” She says sarcastically. “You are going to help save the planet.” She takes her finger off of him and grabs a couple of vines to wrap them around his arms. “You know, I’ve spent centuries tracking that mutt down. If he hadn’t betrayed me, then I could have my trees grown again.” 

“Betray you?’ Arthur asked, confusedly. Was she talking about Mystery who had revealed himself as a kitsune to him? Did he and her used to work together? These are questions that get Arthur thinking that if Mystery was the reason why he was here in the first place. “Did you two had issues?” 

“I wouldn’t say issues, more like disagreements.” She says candidly. “But yes, we did have some back then.” She had her arms crossed, the shears in her right hand pointing at the ground. “That mutt you and the others call him Mystery, was nothing more than an unloyal mortal whose only goal is to survive.” She had said with hatred in each word. “I’m betting that he doesn’t even care about you.” 

“That’s not true, I think.” Arthur doubts. He didn’t know if Mystery should be trusted or not. The words he said about the cave, saying that he was possessed. Mystery and Lewis were the only people who remembered the cave and one of them almost killed him, yet the other one could be lying to save his own skin.

“Fine then, don’t believe me. But if that mutt doesn't come for you before you die, then he thinks you're worthless.” She then grabbed his metal arm, looking at it. “Shame that you don’t have the other arm with you so we can make this a little more quicker.” 

Arthur grunts. “I don’t even know how I lost it in the first place.” 

“Oh really?” Shiromori says, quizzical. “Let me help you with that.” She puts both of her hands on both sides of his head, putting pressure to it. 

“What are you doing?’ He cautiously asks. 

She didn’t speak. Instead, she had her eyes closed, her expressions showing the satisfying moments of whatever she was seeing. “Yes.” She whispers. It went on for a few minutes until Shiromori opened her eyes, her hands off of Arthur, and took a couple of steps back as she laughed. “That idiot!” She said, harshly. “I can’t believe that he did that!”

“What are you talking about?” He worriedly asked. 

“Oh Arthur.” Now that had made him shocked. How did she know his name already? “What exactly did Mystery tell you?” Now this is where Arthur is scared about what he was going to say. 

“I killed Lewis. I was possessed and I-” 

“But did he tell you how you lost your arm?” Shiromori asked, with a smirk. 

Arthur took a long time to answer. Of course he didn’t tell him, but why was it important? “No.” He said. She silently laughs before going over to him as she covers his eyes. “I can’t see.”

“That’s because I’m covering them dummy.” She says, bashful. Then, she said something in japanese that Arthur couldn’t understand clearly. “Now, watch as your life will be turned upside down.” 

Arthur is now getting these visions from somewhere familiar, the cave. It was like a VR headset he used to try out when he made one two years ago. But he wasn’t alone in that cave, he saw Lewis who was alive, Vivi and Mystery as a dog walking inside the cave. He was right behind them, feeling scared about the cave. If he remembered correctly, Lewis suggested that Vivi and Mystery should head to the right path as Lewis and himself went to the left path where that cliff was. As he was there, he felt this emotion of jealousy and anger in his body. Arthur didn’t know where it came from, but it wasn’t a good emotion for him to be in this situation. After a minute he felt numbness in his left arm, it felt weird since he didn’t have his left arm. He looks down to see that it was turning green and monstrous like. The arm then went towards Lewis who was looking down at the edge of the cliff, seeing the spikes that Arthur almost died to when Lewis dropped him. But something was happening, his legs started to move weirdly, as if he was a puppet of some sort. He was walking faster than normal and he was trying to scream for help, but nothing came out of his mouth. Closer and closer he got to Lewis, until he saw what had to be the reason why Lewis was angry at him. He did push Lewis off the cliff, seeing him fall to his death as the spikes impaled his whole body. His heart was racing, tears went down his eyes. How could have been so stupid? He was the one who killed Lewis and he didn’t know. But it wasn’t over, something that had teeth grabbed behind him from behind, probably his vest. This thing threw him to the ground, pinning him down. He looked up to see a sharp row of teeth right in front of his face, paws on his shoulders as his tails went swaying side to side. This had to be Mystery. But he had six tails instead of seven, why? It went by quickly, but he can feel the pain on his left side as he saw Mystery biting down on the possessed arm. He then ripped the arm off of him, blood spilling out of both ends. He was screaming in pain, bad enough to think that he was going to die. 

Before he could see anymore, Shiromori let go of Arthur. She saw the tears from the poor kid, how he had felt sadness and miserable to see the whole thing. “”Now you know the truth.” She said. “Any last words before we start this?” 

Arthur took a deep breath as he looked to the ground, his tears hitting the floor. “Just kill me.” He said weakly. 

Shiromori smiles just a little bit. “As you wish.” She then grabs a vine and stabs it into Arthur’s arm like it was an IV tube doctors use for their patients. The vine started to suck the blood out of him. Arthur was depressed, hurt, and now was going to die, knowing his whole life was a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Arthur live or will he die slowly as he loses blood?


	20. The Broken Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Mystery and Lance try to find a track of Shiromori's camp, Vivi learns the truth why Lewis took away her memories.

The night was still there, but the moon was close to disappearing from the face of the earth. Lewis remembered that Mystery still wanted him to give back Vivi’s memories or he would kill him a second time. But can a ghost die twice? He thought to himself as he was driving in the truck. Mystery, Vivi, and Lance were in the back of the truck, looking at the blue katana grandma Yukino gave to them. This katana was a unique one because of its design. The blade had a touch of blue and purple mixed together with a picture of a snowflake on it, just like the handle, but it was a 3D design. The handle had a black leather color which was smooth as Vivi’s couch. Vivi, amused by the katana, raised it in the air, letting the light shine off of it. “So this is what will kill her?” She asks Mystery who was sitting on the floor in his dog form still. 

“Absolutely.” He said with confidence. “Once you stab Shiromori with this blade, it’ll be all over.” Mystery scratched his ear, itching as if he had a flea. “I’m just glad that your grandmother had that katana for years.” 

“Speaking of.” Vivi said. “Why did she hate you so much?” It was a question that made Mystery ashamed of himself. “I know that she might be a little cranky, but she really had issues with you.” 

“It’s a long story.” He says, sadly. “You see, back when you had taken me to your house, I felt like that I belonged here. With your parents approval and all the things you’ve done to take care of me, I knew that you were worth protecting. But of course, Grandma Yukino had issues with me, even if we haven’t even met yet.” 

“Didn’t you also say that she knew your secret too?” Lance asked. 

“Yes. For some reason, she knew from the beginning just a few days after. I’m not sure how, but she learned all about my past and what I really am.” Mystery says, confused about it. 

“Well, there must be a good explanation why.” Vivi suggested. 

“I hope so, unless-” Mystery interrupted himself because of a sense that he recognized centuries ago. He sniffs in the air as he knows what it is. “Stop the truck Lewis.” He said demandly as Lewis drove the truck off the road and slammed the brakes. 

“What is it?” Lewis asked. 

“I can smell it, one of Shiromori’s camps. It’s not far.” Mystery said as all four of them got out of the car. Mystery went back to his kitsune form, sniffing the ground to find a track towards her hideout. “Stay behind me in case she ambushes us.” He said, protectively. 

The area was a large vast of sand, cactus, and darkness that surrounds it all. Mystery walks towards a small rock with sharp corners and a gray color. He sniffs the rock, knowing that it had to do something with Shiromori traveling under the ground. As he was investigating the rock with Lance next to him, still the shotgun in his hands, Vivi and Lewis had their own conversation behind them. “So is it true about what Mystery said?” Vivi asked him, very concerned. “Did you take my memories away?” 

Lewis had to confess sometime or things wouldn’t go in his direction. “Yes.” He said with guilt in his dark eyes. “I had to.” 

“But why?” Vivi didn’t understand clearly about it and how he was able to do it without any head injuries. “Why take my memories for a whole year?” 

“If I tell you the truth and do give you your memories, I’m afraid that your whole life could be destroyed.” Lewis said as a warning. Before he spoke again, Lewis took deep breaths, his chest, which was hollow, expanded and extended. “You saw my death.” 

“I did?” Vivi never felt dreadfulness in her life. “What did I see?” She now wanted to know the truth. How she saw the death of what they would call him, her boyfriend. 

“Like I said, It’ll ruin your life.” Lewis warned again. 

“I don’t care, I want my memories back!” She demands. 

“I can’t.” He said defeatly. 

“Why not!?” She infertility says.

“Because the locket’s broken!” He replied, disgruntled by her impatience. Lewis gives Vivi the shattered locket onto her hands, but doesn’t open it. Mystery had heard the argument going on behind him, he listened in, hearing the words ‘the locket’s broken’. It made Mystery more aggravated. The fact that Lewis couldn’t even give back her memories, yet the pink flashes from Vivi tells him that he still takes her memories.

“Then how do we fix it?’ Vivi questioned, hoping there was some way to get her memories back. 

“I’m not sure. Jax said that love power was the only way to fix it.” Lewis said. As he finished speaking, Jax came out of the broken locket, startling Vivi a little. 

“Well love power is one of the only ways to fix the locket.” Jax intelligently said. “If you can remember sir, those blue petals you put in that locket had something to do with Vivi.” It was true, those petals came from a blue flower Shiromori had produced from her palm when she holded the locket. “The other ways include a certain item or personal belongings from the person who lost memories. 

“Personal belongings?” Vivi asked, pondering over the things she had that belonged to her. “Well does it have to be anything?” 

“Well, no.” Jax said. “It had to be smaller enough to fix inside the locket in order for it to fit.” Vivi went through her pockets and found out that a piece of jewelry of hers was missing from her left pocket. 

“It’s not there!” She said, panicking as she goes through with her other pockets. 

“What’s not?” Lewis asks. 

“The necklace! It’s not there!.” Vivi remembered the necklace, it was one that she had purchased at the same store Arthur had gotten the orange star pin, the same day too. The necklace was silver that had a shape of a V, as in Vivi’s first initial. “It must have dropped somewhere!” But where? She had been to many places like the mansion, Arthur and Lance’s mechanic shop, and possibly Vivi’s house. 

“We can find it later.” Mystery said. “I found a good spot.” Jax went back into the locket as both Lewis and Vivi had their eyes at Mystery.

“What does that mean?” Lance asked. 

“It means we are going to make an entrance to Shiromori’s camp. But we need to make a hole first.” Mystery explains.

“Then I guess it’s my job to do it.” Lewis said, getting the others to back away from what Lewis is about to do. He kneels to the ground, dusting the ground with his hand before he slams it to the ground, fire spreading outwards, the ground shaking like a mini earthquake. After the dust was settled, Vivi, Mystery and Lance can see that Lewis had just made a huge hole, big enough for Mystery to fit in his kitsune form. Lewis looks at the cave, seeing a dark and an unusual path that leads straight from nowhere. “I think I did it.” 

“You did.” Mystery said, unimpressed with Lewis’s work. “Now let's find Arthur and kill Shiromori.” They all hopped down the deep hole and onto the path that was covered with vines that had sharp thorns. Mystery still stayed in front of the group, still making sure that Shiromori was still planning to ambush them. Because Lewis was already dead, he stayed in the back, making sure that nothing else would harm both Vivi and Lance. “I hope we aren’t too late.” Mystery secretly said to himself. The others hoped the same thing as well. But from how long they took to get here, it was about an hour after Arthur’s kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will include the final battle.


	21. Saving Arthur Kingsmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between them and Shiromori begins.

How close were they to saving Arthur? Mystery had thought to himself as he’s walking down the dark exotic path of doom. Lance and Vivi, who were behind him, looked at the walls which were covered with vines that had leaves attached to them like they were in some sort of jungle. “How long have we been here?” Vivi asks, getting everyone’s attention. 

“It may seem like we are going in circles, but I can assure you that we are getting closer to finding Arthur and Shiromori.” Mystery stated. Even if he was brave enough to face his worst enemy, Mystery still fears that Arthur might not make it as he gets there. It was his fault from the beginning. The flower, the incident at the cave, and now Arthur’s going to die because of his actions. 

Behind the three of them is Lewis and Jax who came back out of the locket again for how many times he had done this. “Sir, I know that we are busy.” Lewis looks at the worried ghost. “But is there some chance that you and Arthur can talk things out now that you heard the truth?” 

Lewis sighs, feeling either shame or depression, maybe both. “If we save Arthur in time, then yes.” This made Jax feel a little happy knowing that Lewis doesn’t hate Arthur anymore. “I just feel so stupid. After what we all have been through, it’s Arthur who was the victim, not me.” 

Lance turns around, joining in on the conversation. “You were still a victim Lewis, you died.” He says in denial. 

“But I almost killed him, Lance. I threw him into the spikes.” Lewis said.

“Then you saved him.” Lance said back at Lewis. “Even if you thought he killed you, you rescued him.” Was Lance really proud of Lewis for this? The fact that he tried to kill Arthur, Lance’s only nephew, and somehow Lance wasn’t mad? “But Arthur is still in danger. Are we there yet?” Lance asked Mystery, turning his head ninety degrees. 

“Almost, I can hear Shiromori.” He said, sniffing the air to track her. 

“Then let's hurry up.” Vivi said, impatiently. They all quickly ran towards the end of the path which was a dead end. Mystery knew that they were here, he put his ear on the wall, listening to the sounds of Arthur’s weak voice and Shiromori laughing. “Well?” Vivi asks. 

“They’re on the other side of the wall.” Mystery states.

“Stand back.” Lewis said, getting into the front of the line as Mystery and Vivi stay back with Lance. Lewis’s fist produces the fire around it and with one punch, the whole wall shatters. When the dust is settled, Lewis and Mystery charged in first, seeing Shiromori and Arthur, who was pale completely, almost drained out of blood. 

“What!?” Shiromori shouts in surprise. “How did you find us!?” 

“Did you forget that kitsunes can track your hideouts?” Mystery said. Shiromori growled, showing her sharp teeth as her shears were big again. 

“It doesn’t matter anymore, you’re too late!” Shiromori mocks, showing the others Arthur’s state. He was weak to move like he was already dead a few minutes ago. “His blood will make me more powerful than your blood did mutt.” 

Mystery didn’t hesitate and attacked Shiromori, Lewis joined the fight too as he threw a fireball at her. Lance went over to Arthur, struggling to get the vines off of him. “Vivi, help get the vines off of him!” Vivi rushes over, trying to pull the vines off of Arthur. After a few seconds, Vivi decides to use the katana to cut the vines. And it worked, the vines were cutted in a couple of smooth slices, freeing Arthur. Lance and Vivi carried Arthur over to the hole Lewis had made on the wall. 

They put Arthur down, seeing the wounds on his right arm. Vivi checked Arthur’s pulse. He was still alive, yet his breathing was slow. “I can’t believe she did this to him.” Vivi said, furiously. After hearing a few shouts and screams at each other, Vivi turns back to see the fight going chaotic. Lewis delivers deadly punches at Shiromori as she slashes at him and Mystery with her katana. “I need to stop her.” She said as she grabbed the katana in her hand and ran towards them. 

“Wait Vivi!” Lance tried to stop her. “It’s too dangerous!” Vivi ignored him. Lance needed to get Arthur out of the camp before Shiromori came back to get Arthur. As he was trying to carry him, he felt something in Arthur’s right pocket. He digs into the pocket, finding a silver necklace that has the letter “V” on it. Lance started to realize that it was Vivi’s necklace, the one she couldn’t find a couple of minutes ago. Why did Arthur have the necklace? 

In the fight, Lewis had thrown Shiromori across the room, breaking another wall, showing what seemed like a damp, dark cave. Lewis, Mystery, and Vivi followed the down Shiromori. Behind her was the edge of a cliff. Deep down was just darkness like if it was an endless fall. Shiromori got up fast as all three of them cornered her. “Give up Shiromori!” Mystery shouts. “You’re outnumbered!” 

Shiromori smirks. “Oh, we’ll see about that.” She then jumped off the cliff, looking at them as she fell down to the darkness below. All three of them were baffled when she did that. 

Vivi looks at Mystery, disgruntled. “Why would you say that?” 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Whenever the main character in a movie asks that question, things get worse.” Vivi explained in an angry and distressed tone. “Did you not watch those movies!?”

“No, because I was too busy sleeping away.” Mystery replied. As both of them were arguing, a loud roar can be heard at the bottom of the cliff. They stopped talking and looked down the cliff, still seeing the darkness. They waited, and waited. “What was that?” He asked.

“I’m not sure.” Lewis replied, confusedly. The silence began to erupt when the roar went closer to them. And closer, until they can hear some thumping sounds like someone climbing the cliff fast. Lewis, out of caution threw a fireball down the cliff, showing a plant monster that stared up at them in rage. “What is that!?” Lewis screams. 

This monster climbed all the way at the top of the cliff. It was huge, had an arm as some shears, vines that crawled all over its face and body. Legs that were thin and tall, the skin had a blueish and greenish color mixed together, and it’s eyes were darkened except for it’s red dotted pupils that stared at its enemies. “It’s Shiromori!” Mystery says. 

“I told you!” Vivi exclaims. She holds her katana right in front of the nightmarish Shiromori, warning her to stay back. Lewis and Mystery also hold their positions. Unfortunately, that didn’t work since she slammed her shears on the ground, leaving some shaking and pieces of rock coming from the ceiling above them. “Is this what Arthur’s blood did to her!?” 

“Yes! It makes her more powerful!” Mystery said, avoiding Shiromori’s attacks. But little did he know, Shiromori grabbed him by his torso, lifting right at her face. “I won’t let you win!” He said, struggling to free himself of her tight grip.

“I’ve already won.” She said, in a deep devilish voice that echoes throughout the room. Lewis quickly sucker punches Shiromori, letting go of Mystery as he falls on the ground. She laughs before saying, “You fools! Have you forgotten that I’m immortal!” 

To this, Vivi had a smile on her face. Shiromori didn’t know about the katana that can kill her in one stab. So she sneaks like a ninja in disguise, making her move. When it was time, she rushed to her, jumping up in the air with the katana above her, stabbing right through her chest. But what was this? Shiromori wasn’t dying? Her laughs were crazy like hyenas. “How?” Vivi asks. 

“Did you really think that weak sword will stop me?” Shiromori mockly asks as she grabs Vivi and throws her at the wall. 

“Vivi!” Lewis said, scared that she was harmed. “You’ll pay for that!” His rage increases, fireballs being thrown at the creature as they don’t affect her. When that didn’t work, he went back to punching her. Then, she slaps Lewis right to the wall, making him down for the count. 

She laughs again. “I will rule this world and take back what was mine!” She goes over to Mystery to grab him, but a shotgun blast stops her. She takes a step back and looks forward to seeing an angry middle-aged man with a fired shotgun in his hands. “You must be foolish to do that.”  
“At least I’m not a coward.” He said, cocking the shotgun. She goes towards him and he fires the next shot, making her go back. “I’m going to turn you into my new garden in a few seconds!” 

“How touchy.” She said, sarcastically. “Then let me show you that nature always wins!” Vines come up from the ground, lassoing Lance as he drops the shotgun. 

Lance grunted in pain. “Argh!” He says. 

“Just give up old man, you’re useless against my powers!” It was the last thing she said before getting torched by Lewis’s powers as he got up in anger. 

“Burn!” He yells. His own hands burst into flames like a flamethrower as it tries to turn Shiromori into ash. It doesn’t affect her that much. 

As that was going on, Vivi weakly got up, her clothes were ripped and covered in dust, she had taken a few beatings as blood was found on her face, mostly her lower lip and nose. She felt tired and sore, thinking if she should give up. But at the corner of her eye, she sees Lewis getting caught in her vines like Lance did, tightening its grip like a hungry snake. “Oh god.” She said. But right in front of her was the katana, it started to glow blue. It was very surprising to her that it was glowing since Grandma didn’t mention this before. She holds the katana in her hands before feeling a cold touch in her palms and fingers. “This is new.” She said, very unexpected to see this. Again, she looks at Lewis and finds out that Shiromori is right at his face, she grabs the locket from his chest, throwing it on the ground. “No!” Vivi screams. That locket was the only thing that could get her memories back and she wasn’t going to let some plant monster destroy it. All the anger in her started to fuel up, the katana glowing up more brightly. 

Shiromori looked over, seeing Vivi ‘power up’. “Impossible.” Shiromori said. Vivi charged at her, screaming in anger. It wasn’t long til Vivi had stabbed the katana right in Shiromori’s chest, letting her yell in pain. “Nooooooooooo!” Shiromori screams as her shear-like hand starts to turn into petals instead of dust. Then her legs, the other arm, her chest, and finally her head which gave her a sad expression before fading away in petals. 

She was now gone. Gone forever and it was Vivi who had saved the day. She huffs. “What just happened.” She asked herself. Looking behind her, she finds Lewis and Lance who were free from the vines that had died out. 

Mystery got up from the fall, his legs shaky as ever. “You did Vivi.” He said proudly. “You saved the world and myself from Shiromori.” 

Vivi smiles. “I’m glad that she’s gone.” A few seconds, she walks to the broken locket, picking it up, and walking to Lewis. “Here, I hope it’s not broken for good.” She said as Lewis grabs the locket. 

“No, it’ll still work.” He said. “But we still need to find your necklace before it’s too late.” 

“I can help with that.” Lance said, pulling out the necklace out of his pocket. 

“My necklace.” Vivi was surprised. “Where did you find it?”

“In Arthur’s pocket, I’m not sure why he had it, but I hope this will help with your memories.” Vivi takes the necklace from Lance, before looking at it. It was in perfect condition. No scratches, no dents, nor rust on the chain or the “V” shape charm. She takes a deep breath before Lewis opens the locket, Jax right behind his shoulder who was excited for this to happen. 

“Wait, where’s Arthur?” Mystery says in distress.

“He’s safe.” Lance answered. “I put him in the truck.” Mystery sighs in relief. 

“Don’t be afraid Vivi.” Jax said, calming Vivi. She puts the necklace in the locket, small enough for the locket to close all the way. The locket’s cracks were disappearing as it’s color was changing from black to gold in a second. 

“Wow.” Vivi said, memorised by the glowing locket. 

“Are you ready?” Lewis asked, pushing the locket towards her. She stares down at it, nervous about what was going to happen. Mystery and Lance were behind her, waiting for the moment. 

But she turns around. “Can me and Lewis have some space? I don’t want you two to see the disaster that’s about to happen.” Mystery and Lance nodded. They both went out through the tunnel from where they came in from. Mystery wanted to see Arthur, how he was doing like Lance. 

Vivi exhaled again. “Now I’m ready.”


	22. Vivi's Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi gets her memories back and Lance tells Mystery about something.

Her heart starts to beat faster than ever. Her hands are sweaty as she holds the fixed golden locket that beats so gently. “If I do cry, just be here for me.” She requests. 

“I will always be here for you Vivi.” Lewis said, caring. She takes a few seconds before opening the locket, only to get a flash of light and head pains as she falls to the ground. 

In her mind, she can see all the things that were lost and forgotten. The day she had met Lewis at their high school, the dates they have been, times where they went ghost hunting, and finally, the night where everything changed. She was standing right in front of the spikes, looking towards a body. This was the person who was responsible for her lost memories as pink bolts shot up from his body and towards Vivi. “Lewis!” She screamed before these bolts attacked her. After gathering all of her memories, her eyes are wide open. She looked at Lewis, tears were made in her eyes. “Lewis.” She said, on the verge of crying. 

“I’m right here Vi.” He says, kindly. Vi was a nickname that Lewis had made up since high school. She gets up from the floor and hugs Lewis. 

She cries on his shoulder. “I missed you.” 

“I did too.” He picked her up like a groom would do with a bride. “Come on, let’s get you home.” 

He walks out of the cave and to the surface where he finds Mystery and Lance taking care of Arthur. Mystery wraps himself around Arthur in care, like a mother wolf. Because of the wound on Arthur’s right arm that was caused by Shiromori’s vines, he took his vest off and wrapped it around it to stop the bleeding. “There, that should take care of that.” Lance said. He looked up at Mystery who was feeling very sad. “Are you alright?” He asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Mystery says, despairing. “I mean, we finally beat Shriomori and Lewis is back, but Arthur.” He looks back down at the sleep kid. “I’m afraid that I just made his life worse.” 

“Worse?” Lance denies. “You didn’t make things worse. You cared about him like I did.” 

“I guess so, but I ripped his arm off.” Mystery said. 

“Yes, but you saved his life.” Lance encourages. “You were like a protector to him, a father.” 

Mystery felt misunderstood. “A father?” He asks. 

“I mean, kinda like one.” He explains. 

Mystery scoffs. “I don’t think I’ll be a good father like his real one.” 

To this, Lance felt miserable. He knew the truth, Mystery didn’t. “There’s something I might have to tell you, but I can tell you tomorrow. Right now, let’s get him home” 

Mystery didn’t know what made Lance say this, but he also wanted Arthur home too. “I agree.” He turns around to find Lewis carrying Vivi. “How did it go?” He asked.

“She had them back.” Lewis said happily. 

“Good, now get her in the truck and take us home.” Mystery demands. 

“I will.” He says as he gets in and puts Vivi in the back with Arthur. 

Vivi checks on Arthur who was on the bed. “Is he going to be alright?” She worriedly asks. 

“He will.” Mystery answers. He decides to comfort Vivi since she had some hard times. “Can you grab Arthur?” He asked. She grabs Arthur gently and puts him on the floor with her. Then, Mystery wraps himself again with Vivi and Arthur like a bed. “It’s best if you have sleep.” 

“But I’m not tired.” Vivi rebels. 

“Don’t fight it Vivi, you had a rough day.” Lance said, agreeing with Mystery. 

“Fine.” She grunts. 

It was only half the drive and Vivi was out cold. It seems like she didn’t get enough sleep from the van drive and Mystery slept too, covering his tails around her and Arthur. Lance slept on the bed, tired too from what he had experienced. Lewis was the only one awake, since he was a ghost, he didn’t have problems with sleeping. Jax on the other hand liked to sleep, he thought that it would help make him go through the next day with energy as he calls it. Lewis had many thoughts to himself. What will happen with him? How is he going to make sure Arthur will be fine? Will he show himself to his family in his ghost form? No, he wasn’t going to do that. He didn’t want to traumatize his family, so he had to keep it a secret. It was a good thing that he can be able to disguise it well like Mystery did. The things that kept Lewis more worried, made him more confident that he was going to make things right. The same with Mystery once everything is settled.


	23. Breaking Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur had a mental breakdown and breaks things.

Arthur’s eyes quickly shot up, as he sat up in his own bed. Looking around, he finds out that he is in his own room instead of some weird plant lair he almost died in. “Was it a dream?” He thought to himself. His left arm, or mechanical one was missing and not attached to his shoulder. Instead, it was on a stand he had made himself when he created the arm. The robotic limb wasn’t badly damaged, but had a few scratches on it. “So it wasn’t a dream.” He said in his head again. On his right wrist was a wrapped bandage to where the insane woman had stabbed a vine into his bloodstream. He wanted to take it off, but was afraid of the damage it had done to him. 

He got out of his bed, walking to the mechanical arm to put it back on his left side. With a click, it automatically turns on itself, moving every joint in it’s system. Next, he walked out of his room, slowly looking around to find Uncle Lance. “Uncle?” He says, calling for him. But there was no answer. 

His next plan was to go downstairs to see if Lance was down there. As he went down the steps which gave out a creaking sound, he felt lightheaded. Maybe from the blood drawn out of him as a reason why his skin was pale. In the basement, he finds no one except for his own items that were on the table. It was the papers and the maps of his own investigation of Lewis’s disappearance. These things gave him back a memory he didn’t want to see. It was all his fault that he killed Lewis, he saw himself pushing off the cliff like he said before. He grabs a brown leathery notebook from the table that had all of his recent information on the case and without a thought, he throws the journal towards the bricked wall. “I killed him!” He shouts. 

He starts to break and tear things. Ripping papers in half, bending tools that were left out on the table. The strength of an angered eighteen year old man was outrageous. “I killed him!” He repeats to himself as if there was someone witnessing it. 

More and more rage went into his system, along with tears that went out of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He still repeats the words ‘I killed him’ and ‘I’m a murderer’. After bending all of the tools and ripping the papers and notebooks, he goes over to the desk with the computer and flips it over, breaking the expensive PC as he stomps on it with his foot. With a kick, the computer screen is smashed against the wall. Arthur huffed after causing a lot of damage to his workplace. His whole life was a life. It only brought him suffering and death. He lost his parents, his childhood, and now his best friend who tried to kill him. He rushes to the closet that was far from the destruction. Arthur opens the door and shuts it as hard as he can, making a loud slam. There he sits, legs curled up, his head covered. He should have been left to die, he just knew it.


	24. Disrupted Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Lance have some things to talk about.

It was past noon. Lance had come back from work and was driving home. He drove the same truck as yesterday, but wore different clothes. His plaid cotton shirt with suspenders made him feel like he was in the past when being fancy was the most important thing in life. The beige pants were covered in lint, oil, and dirt when he had fixed a couple of cars during his shift. Scratches were found on his face, either from the fight with the monstrous plant lady or accidental cut during repairs on his nephew’s van that was totaled. Lance really wanted to put it back together for Arthur, but there were some parts missing and he needed to get some. 

The truck is parked on the driveway, Lance gets out of the car and turns the key to the house. The first thing he had to do was to check on Arthur. As he got to his room, he realized that Arthur was awake since he wasn’t in his bed. Lance didn’t need to think where Arthur could be, instead he just went downstairs to the basement. 

What he saw in the basement wasn’t very surprising to him. Lance knew that Arthur would have a serious breakdown ever since he was a kid when his parents were murdered. He remembered that everytime he would hear it on the news, he would just break down in tears for hours. It made Lance feel bad for Arthur, that he was never there during the murder and if he was, he would had kill the person himself. “Arthur?” He calls. “It’s me Uncle Lance.” There was just silence. Lance looked over to the closet to see the light underneath the door bright. He knows that he doesn’t use the closet and Arthur would just use it to store stuff in. Closer, he goes to the closet door. With a knock, he concernedly asks, “Are you okay Arthur?” 

“I just want to be left alone.” Arthur said with avoidance. Lance wasn’t going to let him grieve on what had happened last night. 

“Arthur, just hear me out.” Lance tried to put it in words. “The cave-” 

“I know what happened at the cave.” Arthur disappointedly says as he interrupts Lance. “I saw the whole thing.” 

“But how?” Lance asks, confused. 

“That woman made me. The one who captured me.” Arthur explains. 

“Oh.” Lance felt remorse. 

“I killed him, uncle. I killed Lewis.” He confesses. 

“No you didn’t.” Lance said, with denial. 

“I pushed him off the cliff!” He began to shout. “I saw him falling to his death!” He starts to cry again. “For a year, I tried to find my best friend who I thought was alive and I found him trying to kill me.” 

“I know it’s hard. Really I know.” Lance said, trying to be sympathetic to him. “Just please, come out of the closet.” Slowly, the door opens. Arthur had tears running down his face. They stared at each other until Arthur gave Lance a sobbing hug. “That’s it.” Lance said, comforting Arthur. “Let it all out.” Arthur kept on crying until he was ready to speak again. 

“I’m so sorry.” Arthur apologizes. 

“For what?” Lance asks. 

“For getting you into this mess.” Arthur stopped hugging Lance. 

“You don’t have to apologize for that. I’m just glad that you’re alright.” Lance says, respectively.   
“Now, let’s get you something to eat and drink and we can talk about some other things. Is that okay?” 

“Yeah.” He quietly says as he wipes away the tears.   
______________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, Lance made sandwiches for himself and Arthur as he made some coffee. He puts one of the full coffee cups next to Arthur who is looking down at his sandwich. The sandwich that Lance had made was a turkey sandwich with swiss cheese and tomatoes while Lance also had a turkey sandwich but with american cheese, pickles, and lettuce. “Not hungry?” Lance asks Arthur. 

“A little lightheaded right now.” Arthur replies. 

“That’s what all that anger does to you.” Lance explains. 

“So you’re not mad about the mess I made downstairs?” Arthur would surely have thought that Lance would be a little angry about him destroying the expensive computer.

“Well, I am relieved that you didn’t destroy the whole house like I expected, but that computer wasn’t cheap.” 

“I can buy a new one.” Arthur said, making a promise. 

Lance chuckles. “I hope you have enough money for it.” 

Arthur exhales softly as he smiles. “I should have enough.” He takes a sip of his coffee which has cooled down. “I think I like to talk about some stuff.”

“Me too.” Lance agrees. “You want to go first or should I?”  
“I’ll go first.” Arthur suggests. “I just want to know about the van.”

“Well the van was totaled and I can’t fix it today. What caused it to crash?” He asks. 

“I’m not sure.” Arthur said, confused too. “I just swerved off the road when Lewis was chasing me.” 

“Right.” Lance sighs. “Lewis told me about the chasing in his mansion.”

“That was his?” Arthur sounded really surprised. Lance didn’t speak a word. “Right, I should have known since it was him who chased me.” 

Lance takes a sip of his cup of coffee. “Now, if you are done with your questions, I have some that need to be answering.” 

“What questions?” Arthur asks. 

“These aren’t mine, but Vivi’s.” He tries to get himself comfortable in the chair. “Now why did you have Vivi’s necklace.” 

“I’m sorry?” 

“The necklace. The one you had in your pocket. Why did you have it?” 

“I wanted to take a look at it so I took it when she was sleeping.” 

“So you stole it?” Lance interigates. 

“I didn’t steal it!” Arthur shouts. “I was planning to give it back.” 

“But you didn’t.”

“Because Lewis chased me in the truck.” Arthur sighs. “Why did it matter anyway?”

“Because it was the only thing that gave Vivi her memories back.” Lance explains. It made Arthur’s skin white. 

He didn’t know what to say. Neither did Lance. Did Vivi actually get her memories back? “So, Vivi remembers everything?” Arthur asks. 

“Yes. It wasn’t pleasant for her, but she knows Lewis now.” 

Arthur leans his head back, exhaling. “Thank god.” Arthur was now relieved that Vivi was back to her old self. “What about Lewis and Mystery?” 

“They are both fine. And Shiromori is dead.” 

“Who?” 

“The woman who captured you, her name is Shiromori.”

“Oh.” Arthur looked down at his coffee as it was still. “It’s strange that she never introduced herself to me.”

“She never did to any of us.” Lance chuckles before talking again. “Now, I’m going to the store to grab a few things, and I know you aren’t in the mood to come.”

“Yeah, I think it’s best if I stay here.” Arthur suggests. 

Lance gets up from the chair, stretching his arms, and taking a bite out of his sandwich. “By the way.” He said with his mouth full, then swallowed. “Mystery wanted to talk to you too, do you want him to come here now or later?” 

“Later. I still need to take all of this in.” Arthur said. 

“Right, I’ll text Vivi and I’ll be on my way out.” Lance took another bite of his sandwich before leaving the plate on the countertop.

“Hey uncle.” Arthur says. 

“Yeah Arthur?” 

“I love you.” Arthur smiles. 

“I love you too.” Lance said, with a smile too before going out the door. Arthur never knew how life could take a turn for the worse, then better. It would take some time for Arthur to get a grip on the reality around him and understand the facts that his future can’t get any weirder than this, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter. I'm going to be taking a break on this and make other stories for a friend of mine on Tumblr. I promise to finish this sometime.


	25. A Kitsune's Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi and Mystery talk about his past while Grandma Yukino tells a story about their ancestor.

In Vivi’s house, Mystery and Vivi had made it home safely. Ever since their interaction with Shiromori and how Vivi killed her, Mystery felt very free now and had no reason to hide his identity right in front of Vivi. They were both in Vivi’s room, talking about some things and how Mystery was relieved that Vivi started to remember the things she had lost last night. Vivi’s parents were at work and Grandma Yukino went to the park to get some fresh air after staying in her room meditating. Mystery was on the bed in his kitsune form with Vivi. She thought that Mystery might break her bed because of his weight, but he was not that heavy as she expected. “I know that this might be late, but if you have any questions about me or anything else. Go ahead and ask.” Mystery said, eagerly. 

Vivi started to hum, thinking of anything that pops in her head. “Is your size the reason how you ate that whole steak?” She asks. 

Mystery had tilted his head up in a jokingly annoyance. “From all the questions you can ask, why that one?” 

“Because I was very amazed the way you tore it down.” Vivi answers with amusement. 

“I guess you would be.” Mystery said. “But I meant like anything that happened in the cave, or Shiromori, or probably me.”

“Well, I want to know about how you and Shiromori met. It seemed like you two hated each other.” Vivi said. 

He huffs and sighs. “That’s a long story, but I told you before that I created her with my blood, right?”

“You did.” 

“Then you saw her power raging inside her.”

“Yes.” 

“Well, let’s just say that it was my fault that this happened.” 

“But why create her?” Vivi asks. 

“You see, I lived in the forest in Japan for many years, before humans came to civilize in that area.” Mystery explains. “The forest was my home along with the others.”

“Others? You mean there’s more kitsunes?” Vivi said, perplexed. 

“Yes, we had been very populated in the forest until humans came and destroyed it.” 

“What do you mean destroyed it?” 

“They started to cut down our trees and used them for their own homes.” He bitterly said. “The next thing I knew was that the kitsunes were moving away from their homes to a new spot. I didn’t want to move at all. It was my home and I wasn’t going to let them take it away. So I learned recently that my blood can give anything the power I command them and there was a flower that I thought might be useful since it reminded me that flowers can somehow represent nature. I dropped my blood on the flower and it created Shiromori.”

“Wow.” Vivi said, amazed. “I didn’t know that Shiromori was a flower.”

“Like I said, I can give anything powers I command them. When I made Shiromori, I ordered her to make more trees so my home wouldn’t be destroyed.”

“Did she do it?” 

“Yeah! She made a ton of trees. More than what we had before. But that drew in a lot of people, because of how suspicious they were.” Mystery paused for a moment and continued. “I did something terrible Vivi.” 

“How? You are good boy Mystery, there’s nothing bad you did.”

“I don’t think you understand, I killed people. Innocent people. I’m a monster.” 

“No you aren’t! Even if you did kill them...but why?”

“It was Shiromori’s idea, she said that they were killing her trees and told me that I needed to stop them.” Mystery said, guilty of his crimes. “But I didn’t kill like a whole town, just three of them.” 

“You killed three? Who were they?” Vivi curiously asked. 

“One was a Japanese soldier who was ordered to stay on guard in the forest, Shiromori told me to kill him because he was trying to cut a tree. The second one was a master samurai who knew about me and was trying to hunt me down. The mistake of killing him was another story.”

“What about the third person?”

Mystery stayed silent. “I don’t want to talk about the third.”

“Why not?” She asked.

“It’s something that still haunts me.” He said, ashamed and sad. 

“Oh.” Vivi said with understandment. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” Vivi calls. 

It was Grandma Yukino who came back from the park. She looked at both of them, with a smile on her face. “Oh dear, you did it.” She proudly says. 

“What did I do?” She asked, confusedly. 

“Don’t be like that. You just killed an immortal monster who had been terrorizing the whole world.” 

“Oh it wasn’t that bad.” 

“Bad!? Why would that be bad?” Grandma Yukino gave Vivi a great big hug. Mystery wanted to join in too, but Grandma stopped him for a few seconds, and thought that he could join too since he protected her. “Now, I think it’s best if I tell you something that you should know.”

“What is it about?” Vivi asked.

“The katana. It was first used by an ancestor that ran through the same problem.” 

“You mean her?” Mystery asked. 

Grandma Yukino looked at him as if she was telling him to shut up. “Yes, that woman was just like you Vivi.”

“What was her name?” Vivi asked.

“Her name was Mushi. Mushi was a woman whose only goal was to help protect her town from the dangers of evil.” Grandma Yukino sat on the ground as Vivi and Mystery did the same thing. “Mystery knew your ancestor.” 

Both Vivi and Grandma Yukino looked at Mystery who was feeling shy or ashamed. “Yes, but-”

“But, you tried to kill her, didn’t you?” Grandma Yukino says, judgemental. 

Mystery started to become more sorry than ever. He remembered the moments where he would attack her in certain times, even if her reasoning was right. “I did. She had a reason to attack me, I didn’t.” 

“Well just a heads up, you still have a couple more years till Vivi learns how to become a master samurai.”

Vivi jerked back at Grandma Yukino in surprise. “Master Samurai? Grandma, I don’t think-”

“I know you will doubt it, but some day, you will become one.” Grandma said before leaving for the door. “By the way Mystery, even if Shiromori is dead, you still have to keep your form a secret from anyone else, you hear me?”

Mystery sighs again. “I understand Miss Yukino.” Grandma closed the door, leaving Mystery and Vivi the knowledge that she would become a master samurai someday like she said. 

“Do you think she’s right Mystery? That I’m going to be a samurai?” Vivi asks. 

“I’m sure she is. You did use that sword pretty well, even if I did doubt you.” Mystery said, giving a lick on Vivi’s cheek. Vivi returns with a hug on his neck. 

“Actually, you still haven’t told me why you hated Shiromori.” Vivi reminds Mystery to continue on with the story. 

“Right. When I realized that Shiromori started to become more powerful, I needed to remind her who was really in charge. A few days later, she learned that she was created by my blood and thought that with my blood she can be powerful.”

“But you said that you can command her with your blood.” 

“I thought so too, but somehow it was useless against her and she was greedy and tried to drain me out. I had to escape and that’s what I did for the rest of my life. Hiding from Shiromori until now.”

“That’s horrible.” Vivi said, feeling sorry for him. Then Vivi phone chimes. She picks up her phone and finds out that Lance had texted her that Arthur is going to have some time alone until Mystery can come over for a talk. Vivi showed the screen to Mystery and he understood where Arthur was at right now. “I wonder how Arthur’s doing.”

“I’m not sure. After what he had been through, it’ll probably scar him for life.” 

“I hope you can talk to him soon, he may need someone to comfort him.”

“You can’t do it?” Mystery jokes. 

“No, because I have Lewis to talk too.” 

“Right. If I’m correct, he should be going to Pepper Paradiso to reveal himself to his family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost close to finishing this story. If I'm right, then I should have two more chapters to go.


	26. Going Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis reveals himself to his foster family and things become a happy ending.

The Pepper Paradiso. Home and job to Lewis as he was standing in front of the restaurant. It was owned by his parents for their whole lives. Whenever he was a little kid, he would help clean the dishes and serve as a waiter. Then as a teenager, his father would teach him how to cook food and his mother taught him many things on how to take care of a business. Now that he was an adult, he knew that cooking and serving people food was his specialty and realized that he would have to take care of the restaurant once his parent’s retired. 

Lewis sighs, holding his locket in his hand as it beated in a quick pace. He was disguised in his human form and in the clothes that he wore before he died a year ago. But his eyes were the only thing that made him look like a ghost and from the reflection of the golden locket, he knew that they weren’t going away. “I have to tell them the truth.” Lewis says into the locket.

Jax comes out of the locket, worried and anxious. “Sir, are you sure? Do you want them to see you as a ghost?” 

“I want them to see my mistakes.” He said, disappointedly. “I know that they will be miserable, but I need to show them what I really am.” 

“No you don’t!” Jax deniably says. “I don’t want you to make things worse for yourself.” 

“But how can I hide with this!?” He points to his darken, ghost-like eyes. “They are going to stay like this forever!” 

“Well why didn’t you say anything?” Jax asked, optimistic. All of a sudden, Lewis’s eyes flashes. He covers his hands over then and bends down.

“What was that!?” He startled. 

“Take a look.” Jax pointed his finger on the locket. Lewis looks back on the reflection of the locket. His eyes were human-like. Unbelievable was the word that Lewis thought of when he saw this. “Impressive, right?” 

“But how- You know what, it doesn’t matter anyway.” Jax goes back into the locket as he puts it back into his pocket that looks real, but fake. With a deep breath, he goes inside the restaurant. The bell rings in a cheery tone and the door squeaks behind him as the doors close behind him. 

“Just give me a minute.” A man said from behind a wall. Lewis recognized that voice as his dad’s. One that he remembered as happy and courageous. 

“I thought that you might want to see me.” Lewis said, his voice echoing inside the lonely room. 

There was silence from both Lewis and his dad. Then footsteps started to quickly pace as it got closer to the front desk. There, his father stood face to face from his lost adopted son. He was a white man with a white apron around his waist as he wore black pants and slip on shoes.. His light pale hair was messy from the work they had done for a year when Lewis went missing. “It’s you.” He whispers, shocked to see him. “You’re back!” He finally breaks down into tears. Lewis goes over to him to give him a great big hug. 

“I’m here Mr. Pepper.” Lewis sympathizes. 

“I-I.. Is this a dream!?” He asks, delusionally. 

“It’s not a dream, this is real.” Lewis looked down at him in joy. 

“I need to get her!” He stops hugging Lewis and rushes to the kitchen “Honey!” He shouts. 

“Yes dear?” She says a little startled. She was an african american woman who is a chef. She is wearing the clothes like her husband is wearing. Her hair was a color of dark red as it was very puffy. 

“You won’t believe who’s here!” He shouts with glee in his voice. 

Out of curiosity, she goes out of the kitchen and gasps when she sees Lewis right in front of her. “Lewis?” She asks, dismayed. 

Lewis nods, as he holds his arms out for a hug. His mom rushes towards him to hug back as she breaks down into tears.

“I thought you were gone forever.” She said, heartbroken that was fixed with hope and relief. 

“Not anymore.” He whispers. “Not anymore.” 

“Mommy? Daddy?” A little girl’s voice could be heard from the door that leads to their house. “Is something wrong?” That little girl was Paprika, Lewis’s little non-biological sister. She was only seven years old with pink hair and a dress that shows how pretty she looks. Lewis had loved Paprika ever since she was born. He would teach her and the other sisters about how to clean tables and floors and give water to the customers. 

Her mom sniffed. “Look who is home Paprika.” 

Paprika was eye widened when she saw Lewis, standing next to her parents. “Lewis!” She shouts in joy. She runs to her lost adoptive brother and gives him a hug as he lifts her in the air. “You’re back!” 

“I missed you Paprika.” Lewis said, emotional.   
Then his other two non-biological sisters, Bella and Cayenne came out from the door and ran towards Lewis. “Lewis!” They said in a chorus. 

“Cayenne! Belle!” Lewis excitedly says as he gives them a hug. 

“Where were you?” Cayenne asks. 

“Well….” They all stared at him in curiousness. “I wanted to go on my own adventure, so I left the state.” 

“And you didn’t tell us?” Mrs. Pepper asks. 

“I was scared of what you guys would think if I left.” He says, lying to them. Lewis had planned this out the day he had thought about what to do when his family saw him again. “I promise to tell you about these things for now on.” 

“I’m just glad that you are safe.” Mr. Pepper said. 

“Me too.” Mrs. Pepper chimes in. 

Him, both of his parents and his little sisters all came together as a group hug and knew that nothing can take this family apart.   
______________________________________________________________________________  
Later at night, Lewis was sitting on the table in their house. It was a traditional home that was hispanic with colorful lights and wall paper that had cactuses. Then there was his room that had magenta wallpaper, a bed that was huge with alpaca bed sheets, a desk that was filled with paranormal investigations and newspapers. His sisters share a room together which is pink, and has stuffed animals and toys that they play with each day. 

His parents were in the kitchen making dinner for Lewis, since they didn’t know he was a ghost. Lewis didn’t know if he could eat or not and it’s been a year since he ate anything that was edible. Mrs. Pepper comes out of the kitchen with a plate that has two soft shelled tacos full of meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and a dip of hot sauce. “Here you go.” Mrs. Pepper said. “I bet you didn’t get to eat anything today.” 

Lewis stared at his food and they may not see it, but he was sweating. He felt afraid of what would happen if he tried to eat something as a ghost. Will it fall out of his body? Is it transparent? Can it ruin his disguise and show his ghost self to his parents? “Are you ok Lew?” Paprika, who was sitting right next to him, asked, caring about him. 

“I’m fine Paprika.” He calms her. “It’s been a long time since I had this.” Lewis chuckles a little bit. Then, he holds the taco slowly and places it right to his lips. With a careful bite, he takes one-third of the taco and chews it really smoothly and softly. He can taste the meat and the sauce in his taste buds. It was incredible that he realizes that as a ghost, he can still taste things. He swallows the bite and it feels like he was human again. “Just like back then, thank you.” He said, satisfied with the taco as he took another bite. 

Mrs. Pepper smiles again. “I really appreciate it Lewis.” Mr. Pepper came out of the kitchen with iced tea. 

“Who wants some iced tea?” He asked, very cheerful. 

“Me!” Paprika shouts. Iced tea was her favorite ever since she was only four. 

Mr. Pepper gives Paprika a glass cup and pours iced tea. “Here you go sweetie.” 

“Thank you daddy.” Paprika says, thankful. She drinks her iced tea with two of her hands. 

“You’re welcome.” He turns to Lewis. “You want some?” He asks. 

“I would like some, thank you.” Mr. Pepper pours some iced tea into his cup. Lewis takes a drink of it at the same time, he can feel the coldness of the ice and the taste of the sweet tea as he swallows it down. “I’m planning to see Vivi tomorrow if that’s ok, I kinda missed her.” 

Mr. Pepper puts down his glass of tea gently. “Lewis, I’m not sure if you knew this, but Vivi lost her memory. I’m not sure if she remembers you.” 

“She did?” He asked, acting like he didn’t know. 

“Yeah.” Mrs. Pepper says, agreeing with Mr. Pepper. “Not only that, but your friend, Arthur lost an arm.” 

“Is he alright!?” He still acts shocked. 

“He’s fine. His uncle said that he was at home getting some sleep.” Mr. Pepper said. “I still don’t know how he lost his arm though or how Vivi lost her memory. 

“Now I need to visit him tomorrow too.” He said acting all worried. But in truth, he was worried about it. He felt sorry for scaring the poor boy to death and what’s worse is that he mistaken him for a killer. 

“First, you need rest.” Mrs. Pepper tells Lewis. “It’s best you get your energy for tomorrow.” 

“I understand.” He gets up and heads to his room. “Have a goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Pepper.” 

Mrs. Pepper sighs in a happy tone. “He still calls us by those names.” She tells Mr. Pepper.

“Well, I mean we are not his real parents.” He adds. 

“Yes, but he should call us mom and dad like our daughters do.” She takes the dirty plate back into the kitchen. 

“Will Lewis be alright?” Paprika asks her dad. 

“He will be fine honey, now how about you tell your sisters to get to bed.” 

“Ok.” Paprika gets out of her chair and heads to her room. But before she could enter it, she asked, “Can you tuck us in?”

Mr. Pepper smiles. “I will.” Then Paprika went into her room. 

In Lewis’s room, he lays in his bed, still in the clothes he can’t take off. He thinks of what has happened throughout the year when he was dead. As he ponders, Jax goes out of the locket. “So, that didn’t go bad.” 

“You can say that again.” Lewis sat up. “How come you didn’t tell me I can eat and drink perfectly?” He asked, frustrated. 

“I didn’t know either.” Jax responds. “I guess you just believed that you can and it happened.”

“So I can believe that I’m alive again and like that I’m back to normal?” He asks, sarcastically. 

“You can’t change the past sir.” Jax floats in front of Lewis. “But I’m glad that everything is back to its rightful place.”

“Jax.” He said, skeptical. “I’m a ghost, Vivi is somehow a samurai, Arthur lost an arm, and Mystery is a kitsune. Nothing is back to its rightful place.” 

“I know, but you are altogether as a team again.” Jax explains. 

“That is true. In fact, we did work together to fight Shiromrori.” 

“See. I knew everything was fine.” Jax ecstatically said before Lewis shushes him. 

“I don’t want you to wake the whole family up.” He whispers.

“Oh...sorry.” Jax whispers too. 

“I think we should sleep and get our strength up.” 

“Just tell me when to come out.” Jax goes back into the beating locket. Lewis lays back down, closing his eyes and trying to let his body go to rest. At the same time, it feels weird, as if he had skin, real eyes and an actual heart that pumps blood into his veins. Sometimes, being a ghost has its unusual powers, but these powers were the reason he was special to the world. Instead of hunting ghosts, he was the ghost. Instead of being lonely, he has friends and family. This is what he needed, to have people next to him. Ones that won’t ever leave him ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left! I'm so excited!


	27. What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the end of the story.

It was the day after Lewis had finally shown himself to his foster parents. He woke up in his bed the next day, feeling like he was back to his normal self. Of course, he still was worried about what would happen next if he kept using his human form as a secret. But like Jax said, he needed to believe that he was human again and do his routine. First was to shower which made Lewis wonder if water can actually put out his fire hair, second was that if he needed to brush his teeth since he was a ghost, maybe he can. Maybe he can believe that his teeth are white forever. The third didn’t worry him the most because it was breakfast and like a champ, he ate the entire place without any stops. His parents thought that he hadn’t had a good breakfast since last year, and they were probably right. “Thank you for the food.” Lewis said, politely. 

“I’m just glad that you love our cooking.” Mr. Pepper gladly said. 

Then, the phone hooked up on the wall had started to ring. “I got that.” Mrs. Pepper says, picking up the call. “Hello?......Yes, this is the Pepper residence, it’s Judy Pepper…….I see…..” She gasps. “Really?..........Ok, I’ll tell him right away…..Thank you, bye.” She hangs up the phone on the wall. Her expression made both Lewis and Mr. Pepper really excited to know what they said. “It was Dr. Winters.” 

“What did he say?” Mr. Pepper anxiously says. 

“He gave Vivi another checkup on her memory and she is starting to remember everything now.” She happily says. 

“Really!? That’s amazing!” Mr. Pepper excites. “Lewis, do you hear this.”

Lewis, knowing that it was him that gave Vivi her memories back said, “That sounds awesome.” He then takes a sip of his water. “Maybe I should go see her.”

“Yes, she would be very excited to see you again.” Mr. Pepper encourages him. “It’s best to go sooner than later.” He said, taking Lewis’s plate. 

“Right now?” Lewis asks. 

“Why not? You were missing for a whole year.” Mrs. Pepper says. So, Lewis got out from his chair and said his goodbyes to them before going out the door. 

______________________________________________________________________________

The day was quicker than Lewis expected it was going to be. First of all, being missing means that you’re going to be on the front page of the newspaper as people start to ask questions on where you went. The next thing was that the police had to talk to him about some things like if he was involved in the cave incident since his corpse wasn’t there. He lied about some things and as a ghost, he can pass the lie detector test easily.   
He was lucky that most of the day wasn’t over from the population of the town. Lewis had told Vivi to meet at the cliff where they could see the whole town. He sat down on the edge, not afraid to look down since he knew what death looked like. “So the whole town has been talking about you.” A woman’s voice said from behind. 

Lewis turns around and finds Vivi standing there. “I guess so.” He said, smiling. 

Vivi joins Lewis and sits on the edge next to him. “To be honest, it feels weird that you’re back like this. As a ghost I mean.” 

Lewis looks back at the town. “Maybe, but it’s where I stand.”

“So, you’re not mad at Arthur anymore?” Vivi asks. 

Lewis didn’t know what to think of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, but he worries if Arthur doesn’t trust him. “The kid has been through a lot. And I feel bad for most of it.” Lewis sighs. “If I knew sooner that he was possessed, I could’ve understood what had happened that night.” 

“It’s the same with me.” Vivi agrees. “Me and Lance thought that he was crazy at first when he started to look for you for a whole year.” 

“He told me about that.” It was the time Lewis realized that Arthur still cared for him. Even if he misunderstood that Arthur wasn’t a coldblooded killer and Mystery had seen the whole thing. Mystery, a kitsune that had disguised himself as a dog for many years since he knew him. At first he thought that he was just a normal loyal dog to Vivi, but he was more than a dog and loyal. He was a guardian for Vivi and Lewis knew what he can do if anyone harms Vivi. “Does Mystery forgive me for what I’ve done?” 

“I’m not sure, he didn’t say anything about being mad at you or sorry that you felt this way.” Vivi said. “On the plus side, he said that he needed to talk to you soon after he’s done with Arthur.”

“Oh.” Lewis understands. “Hopefully he won’t talk anymore about the memory loss thing.” 

Vivi laughs. “I hope so too, but he was really mad about it when he realized it was you who did it.” 

As they were talking, Jax came out of the locket. “I see that romance isn’t dead.” Jax jokes. 

“Well, it’s more on the form that love can’t be broken.” Vivi corrects him. “But I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“Oh, my name is Jax. Lewis’s helper since the first day he’s a ghost.” Jax greets. “Now what are your plans?”   
“We have so many things to do.” Vivi said, excitedly. “First, we gotta get back on those dates. Including the anniversary we missed. Second, we need to continue on with the ghost investigations, and maybe because you are a ghost you can talk to them.” 

“That’s a lot of stuff to remember Vivi.” Lewis sarcastically says. 

“And that’s not all. Next we have to travel to places, probably go on vacation, drive around the town and see the sunset.” Vivi kept saying as Lewis and Jax smiled at her. It was a long time since Lewis had seen a bright smile from his beautiful and courageous girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished my first long fanfiction and I'm very proud of it.


End file.
